Paper title: Australian transport infrastructure: fit for purpose?

The National Committee on Transport (NCTR) of Engineers Australia has identified five transport issues as being of highest national priority, and the condition of Australia's transport infrastructure is one of them. This paper is based on a draft position paper of NCTR. Concentrating on land transport (railways and roads), it reviews the transport task that rail and road infrastructure is expected to service now and in future. The implications of this in terms of using infrastructure that is ‘fit for purpose’ are assessed both for the rail and for the road sector. The paper suggests that there is a large backlog of necessary works to bring Australia's land transport infrastructure up to scratch. These capital works are broadly identified. The problems are very different in metropolitan and regional areas, and these are distinguished. The paper then argues for a better pricing framework than we currently have, and for interim government intervention in the modal choice for port-related freight before an improved pricing framework can be achieved. The paper concludes with a number of policy recommendations, which if implemented together would eventually allow Australia to claim that its land transport infrastructure was truly ‘fit for purpose’ for present and future freight and passenger tasks.