Transport and Cities
13 October 2019
Why it’s time for congestion charging: better ways to manage busy urban roads
Australia’s capital cities should join many of the great cities of the world by charging drivers who use the busiest roads at the busiest times.
16 April 2019
Commonwealth Orange Book 2019: Policy priorities for the federal government
The winner of the 2019 federal election should defy the national mood of reform fatigue and stare down vested interests to pursue a targeted agenda to improve the lives of Australians. The Orange Book charts the policy priorities.
28 October 2018
State Orange Book 2018: Policy priorities for states and territories
State and territory governments can do more to improve the lives of Australians. In many cases, states are different because their governments adopted better policies. Every state should learn from the others and do better.
1 October 2018
Remarkably adaptive: Australian cities in a time of growth
Australia’s urban commuters have little to fear from population growth, if recent experience is any guide. The average commute distances and times barely increased over the five years to 2016, even as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane’s populations grew strongly.
25 February 2018
Unfreezing discount rates: transport infrastructure for tomorrow
Australia is taking the wrong approach to valuing roads, railways and other big infrastructure. Change will help governments pick the right projects in the right order.
2 October 2017
Stuck in traffic? Road congestion in Sydney and Melbourne
Road congestion charges should be introduced in Sydney and Melbourne. An examination of 3.5 million Google Maps trip-time estimates across more than 350 routes suggests both cities could face traffic gridlock in future unless decisive action is taken to manage congestion.
19 March 2017
What price value capture?
State governments should be wary of following the Turnbull Government’s advice to introduce “value capture” schemes to fund major new transport projects. A broad-based, low-rate land tax may be a better option.
23 October 2016
Cost overruns in transport infrastructure
Australian governments have spent $28 billion more on transport infrastructure over the past 15 years than they told taxpayers they would spend. It is time to curb politicians’ reckless promises and create a more accountable basis for infrastructure building.
14 June 2016
Orange Book 2016: priorities for the next Commonwealth Government
Australia faces many domestic policy challenges as the election looms. Yet a survey of seven years of Grattan Institute reports and policy proposals shows that a government prepared to forcefully articulate the public interest could win public support for a brave and powerful reform agenda.
3 April 2016
Roads to riches: better transport spending
A decade of unprecedented spending on transport infrastructure has put politics ahead of the public interest. Too much money is being wasted on the wrong projects built in the wrong places.