Toll charges when towing CT

[kranky al]

or the government could just build the goddamn roads out of your taxes and then you dont get extorted for the next 50 years??  in w.a we  have nice freeways and highways built criss crossing perth that a re just as parking lot as the lnes you have in sydney in peak times - but we dont have to pay for the privilege

[theflyingbadger]

Whats a Toll Road??      

dont have them in Tassie 

same here, no tolls in WA.

and *excellent* roads. shame about the drivers

[Pipeliner]

WA
Population  2.4M
Mining Royalty income  $4.9 billion
Income per capita  $2,000

QLD
Population  4.5M
Mining Royalty income  $3.4 billion
Income per capita  $755

Which may be one reason why the roads in WA are free and the roads in Queensland have tolls.  And the whole point of our toll roads is that they aren't parking lots - that's why we pay to use them.  Can't say the same for Sydney and Melbourne though - but the alternatives are even worse!

Population data from 2012 census, mining royalty data from 2012 State Budgets

Edited to correct wrong data

[kranky al]

area of western australia - 1/3rd of the australian continent


federal funding for western australia - negligible

[rescue1]

I did a trip to Geelong last year and encountered 3 sets of traffic lights between home and the outskirts of Geelong 2 sets getting onto the M7 and the 3rd at Holbrook. The Sydney motorways have reduced my travel time dramatically, but, I'm usually travelling against the traffic...

[shanegtr]

WA
Population  2.4M
Mining Royalty income  $4.9 billion
Income per capita  $2,000

QLD
Population  4.5M
Mining Royalty income  $3.4 billion
Income per capita  $755

Which may be one reason why the roads in WA are free and the roads in Queensland have tolls.  And the whole point of our toll roads is that they aren't parking lots - that's why we pay to use them.  Can't say the same for Sydney and Melbourne though - but the alternatives are even worse!

Population data from 2012 census, mining royalty data from 2012 State Budgets

Edited to correct wrong data

How long have the toll roads over there been in place? I bet it was long before the mining boom and the quoted income per capita that WA has.

[Kit_e_kat9]

How long have the toll roads over there been in place? I bet it was long before the mining boom and the quoted income per capita that WA has.

From Wikipedia:  The original bridge (formerly named the Gateway Bridge) was opened on 11 January 1986 and cost A$140 million to build.[1] The duplicate bridge was opened in May 2010.

And this from Qld Motorways:  In August 1987, four separate contracts were awarded to complete different sections of the motorway. Construction of the motorway commenced on 1 October 1987.  In 1997 the Logan Motorway was upgraded to four lanes (two each way) and the Gateway Extension was constructed.  The Paradise Road Interchange was constructed in 2007 with two additional toll plazas being added onto the Logan Motorway Network. These toll plazas were later replaced with overhead tolling gantries as part of the introduction of free-flow tolling.

So as you can see, Qld's 5 tolls have been here for quite a while.

Kit_e

[kranky al]

at the end of the day you eastern staters, instead of spending 100xxx in tax to buy something and then 20xxx a year to maintain it. think that spending nothing to build it but 50xxx a year to use it is a good deal

the companies who run it think its an excellent deal and as such hire previous politicians on extravagant pay rates to ensure it continues

[Kit_e_kat9]

at the end of the day you eastern staters, instead of spending 100xxx in tax to buy something and then 20xxx a year to maintain it. think that spending nothing to build it but 50xxx a year to use it is a good deal

I don't think it has much to do with me (personally) at all as I prefer the buy something decent and have very litte upkeep version.

If the people constructing our major cities actually had brains and made "by-passes" to get around them rather than a meandering series of stop lights and tight corners to get through them ... there would be no place for toll roads  ... period.

Here in Brisvegas, things are made much worse by the lack of infrastructure for getting over the river.  Everyone must cross the river to get to the other side (ha ha), but we only have a few places we may actually do so in a vehicle ... all of which are now seriously clogged with traffic and no politician who really gives too hoots about it.

We have only one major road to get over the river without passing through the city.  And it's a troll bridge.  The only other way around the city (and not use said troll road) is via Wivenhoe (a 3 hour diversion on a very badly maintained country road) but it is the Brisbane Valley scenic option.  When running a business, I'm sure you'll agree they don't use the second option here.

Kit_e

[shanegtr]

I feel I pay enough taxes - income tax, fuel tax and associated regos etc... (as does every one else who drives) for the govt to build and maintain roads, not palm it of to some private company to build and charge everyone for the next thousand years.