The epic failure of Sydney’s toll roads continues
POTENTIAL SAVING: $2232 annually, and 90 hours a week - one way
At 7.30am on Wednesday 9 November 2011, Radio 2UE broadcaster Paul Murray and I left Bankstown railway station in two separate cars, headed for The Rocks in Sydney. This seemingly inauspicious event was broadcast right across Sydney on 2UE.
Jason Morrison, 2UE’s breakfast host, covered our progress (if that’s the right word) regularly over the next 90 minutes or so, to answer the question: Are toll roads a fraud? In this case, the answer came back an unequivocal
Potential Saving: $4526.40 per annum – or more
Toll roads in Australia are a complete rip-off. In particular during peak periods, Sydney’s toll roads deliver no tangible benefit to the motorist, yet toll roads cost a bomb. Traffic just grinds to a halt on the major toll roads (and the major free roads) - only the drivers stuck on the toll roads can't get off or try an alternative route. Everyone stuck on a toll road in peak-hour is trapped in a linear car park - and paying through the neck for the 'privilege'. The only group benefiting from toll roads are the companies that own them.
Incredibly, the toll road trip below – common enough for people who live in the north-west sector – costs more than $4500 annually.
We tested what happens when you slash that cost to zero using established free roads.
Above: Castle Hill to the Sydney CBD via toll roads - 34km
Alternatively, try this larger version of the map
TOLL ROADS: NEED TO KNOW
Castle Hill to Sydney CBD via the following toll roads:
- M2 Hills Motorway (toll road): $4.95
- Lane Cove Tunnel (toll road): $2.89
- Sydney Harbour Bridge (toll road): $4.00 (in peak periods)
Return Trip via the same toll roads:
- Lane Cove Tunnel (toll road): $2.89
- M2 Hills Motorway (toll road): $4.95
- (Note: no north-bound toll on the Sydney Harbour Bridge)
Toll roads are faster and more fuel efficient? Don't believe it
Potential Economic Benefit: negative
Faster (but only if free-flowing) and almost always more costly
Selling the concept of toll roads to the driving population on the basis of fuel saving via more efficient driving is generally a con, or at least a liberty with the truth.