Australia's freight and passenger movement outcomes have advanced significantly in the five years since the 2016 Australian Infrastructure Plan.
These achievements are the most notable:
• Transport operations are being managed more efficiently and productively using real-time datasets that are available to a range of groups, including passengers and freight operators. Smart device applications that help users to plan Journeys and work out supply chain contingency plans are now common.
• In Fast-growing Cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane state governments are leading record investment efforts to upgrade, extend and expand high-capacity and high-frequency mass transit networks.
• There has been a sustained trend in Jurisdictions opening transport construction, maintenance and operating activities to service providers in a well- regulated commercial market.
• Australian Government and state and territory Transport ministers are progressing heavy vehicle road reforms that will link operator payments to both the impact trucks have on roads and the road improvements this revenue is allocated to deliver.
• Ministers have endorsed and are overseeing implementation of an overarching National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy.4
These are all recommendations Infrastructure Australia made in the 2016 Plan.
There has been less progress in addressing these high-priority issues:
• caps, curfews and other constraints on the operation and use of transport infrastructure
• passenger transport service gaps in the outer- urban areas of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth
• first- and last-mile gaps in freight networks
• the need for a light vehicle road user charging regime
• the shortfall between vehicles' environmental performance and global best practice.