Hussein Dia, Swinburne University of Technology; Hadi Ghaderi, Swinburne University of Technology, and Tariq Munir, Swinburne University of Technology
Support for road-user charging strengthens when people are assured that revenue goes into reducing traffic congestion, maintaining transport infrastructure, improving public transport.
If the fuel excise cut is not extended, average petrol prices in Australia will almost certainly return to the above $2 territory by early October. But a different solution is needed.
It is deeply regretful that the budget and forward estimates don’t specifically recognise the ongoing scale and the fiscal impact of climate disasters.
Proposals to cut Australia’s fuel excise will prolong an already alarming dependence on oil-based imports and undermine policies to shift the nation away from fossil fuels.
The benefits of road-user charging are now well established. And including electric vehicles doesn’t have to be a deterrent to their uptake, as New Zealand and other nations have shown.
Sure, the owners of electric cars don’t pay properly to use the roads, but it’s even worse for the owners of conventionally-powered vehicles.
Reforming how drivers pay for the costs of their road use can help keep traffic flowing, which is just one of the potential benefits.
Holli/Shutterstock
Traffic congestion is the main cost that cars create when they use existing roads. Road use charges are a more efficient and fairer way to cover the cost and help ensure traffic flows.
The majority of working Australians drive to and from work.
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
Australians are crying out for political leadership. One way our leaders can redeem themselves is by getting to work on a complete shake-up of how we pay for and use transport infrastructure.
Road user pricing would encourage people to take non-essential trips at a different time, or not at all.
thomasthethinkengine.com
Charging people to drive has been the dream of policy wonks – serving politicians tend to see it as political poison. So when federal minister Paul Fletcher raises it, that’s a step forward.
Economic modelling suggests raising fuel taxes could get cars off the road - and therefore save lives.
Khongkit Wiriyachan/Shutterstock
Road safety is a seriously important public policy issue. Around 1.3 million people die in road crashes around the world each year. Among teenagers and young adults, road crashes are the number-one cause…
Victorian Premier Denis Napthine faces an uphill battle at November’s state election.
AAP/Lukas Coch
On the ropes already and facing the polls on November 29, the Victorian Liberals have yet again been knocked by their federal colleagues. Tuesday’s move to reintroduce fuel indexation by the tariff route…
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann will introduce the fuel excise indexation measure by way of putting on a tariff.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Motorists will pay more for petrol from November despite the Senate numbers not being there to pass the budget’s fuel tax hike. The government has found a way around the recalcitrant Senate – it is imposing…
We’ve all experienced the frustration of waiting for public transport, but would we pay more tax for improvements?
Purple Wyrm/Flickr
Although Australia’s tax-to-GDP ratio is low by international standards, no-one wants to discuss how we might pay for the improvements needed to public transport, and even less the need for taxation to…
Rich or poor, being stuck in traffic is always annoying.
Shultz6/Wikimedia Commons
“The people that actually pay the most are higher income people, with an increase in fuel excise… The poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases.” – Treasurer…
When a government has to negotiate with crossbenchers there is often an element of humiliation involved, especially if that government suffers from a touch of “born to rule”. Governments think of themselves…
A cheap or costly drop? You might be surprised to find out how Australian taxes on petrol compare to overseas.
AAP/Andrew Brownbill
UPDATED ON TUESDAY 22 JULY: See editor’s note below for details on the updates. In this year’s federal budget, the Abbott government moved to restart automatically increasing the fuel excise in line with…