Westconnex Tolls
Relative to its size, Sydney has one of the largest number of toll roads in the world and it doesn’t look like this is set to change anytime soon. Professor David Hensher, director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at Sydney University, acted as an independent reviewer of patronage forecasts for the currently being constructed Westconnex initiative, and had some pretty unsavoury revelations to tell the NSW inquiry. At the inquiry into the toll roads that will accompany the Sydney Gateway set to connect Westconnex to the airport, the professor said households were at risk of ‘ toll saturation’- predicting they will reach a point where commuters are unwilling and totally resistant to spending more of their income on toll expenditure. This is despite the market basing its modelling for toll road use on the premise that ‘ there is almost an open- ended budget to spend on tolls’ – which seems a cause for concern.
The Daily discussed this with professor himself, David Hensher, director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at Sydney University.
