Future

As cities grow and vehicles change, road networks need to adapt and evolve.

Population growth, zero and low-emissions vehicles, and the promise of automation all present unique opportunities and challenges for transport infrastructure.

Here you can explore these topics and learn about how we’re preparing our roads for the future.

Future

As cities grow and vehicles change, road networks need to adapt and evolve.

Population growth, zero and low-emissions vehicles, and the promise of automation all present unique opportunities and challenges for transport infrastructure.

Here you can explore these topics and learn about how we’re preparing our roads for the future.

Explore the data

Growing cities

We operate roads in cities across Australia, the United States of America and Canada. In all of these cities, the next few decades of population growth will put increasing pressure on already stretched transport networks and contribute to congestion.

Here you can explore population and congestion projection data and learn about how our road projects are preparing for the growth.

We surveyed people in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, the Greater Washington DC Area and Montreal about about their attitudes towards congestion in the 2023 edition of our Urban Mobility Trends Report. Our survey found 64% of respondents in the Australian cities surveyed and 56% of respondents in the North American cities surveyed are concerned by current levels of congestion, and even more are concerned about the levels of congestion they might face in 10 years' time.

We surveyed people in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, the Greater Washington DC Area and Montreal about stressors when driving. We found congestion is a top-3 stressor for many on the road. See our 2023 Transurban Insights Road Safety Report for more details.

Western Melbourne is one of the fastest growing regions in Australia. According to the data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the suburb of Tarneit in Melbourne’s west had the second highest growth rate of any suburb in Australia in the 2021-22 financial year.

The West Gate Tunnel will be a 17-kilometre road connecting Melbourne’s west with the central city. Once completed, this new road, including 6.8 kilometres of tunnel, will improve connections between Melbourne’s west, the city centre, and major ports, and serve as a vital alternative to the city’s heavily congested West Gate Bridge.

Find out more about the West Gate Tunnel project and our other projects on our website.

Find out more about the West Gate Tunnel project and our other projects on our website.

Road funding

Most governments around the world collect fuel excise on every litre or gallon of petrol and diesel. Revenue from fuel excise contributes towards the construction and maintenance of roads. As vehicles become more fuel efficient and people transition to electric vehicles this revenue source will decline.

Here you can explore road funding data and learn about alternative road funding models.

In Australia, the current cost of fuel excise is 48.8 cents per litre. As shown below, it makes up a decent chunk (34%) of all revenue collected from road-related activities. Governments at all levels (federal, state/territory and local) contribute financially to transport infrastructure development.

While total vehicle kilometres driven has increased by around 29% since 1997–98, net fuel excise collected by the Federal Government has declined by around 20% in real terms. Part of why excise revenue is decreasing is simply that vehicles are becoming more fuel efficient.

Despite fuel excise making up a significant proportion of the cost of fuel, our August 2022 Urban Mobility Trends report found awareness of the tax in Australia, the Greater Washington DC area and Montreal remains low.

An alternative taxation model to Australia’s current system of fuel excise and other charges is a road-usage charge. Motorists would pay for their usage, with charges set for each trip taken, each kilometre travelled or at a capped daily rate.

In the August 2021 edition of our Urban Mobility Trends report , we asked people in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to evaluate the two funding models (fuel excise vs road use charging) based on descriptions of the current system and a hypothetical per-kilometre road-user charge.

After comparing both models we found:

50% preferred a road-user charge
32% preferred the current funding model (preference for the current funding model decreased to 23% after respondents learned sticking with the current model may potentially lead to reduced government funding for future roads and infrastructure projects.)
18% were undecided.

While increasing congestion is a concern for most people, addressing this through transport infrastructure ranks below other public priorities. In the August 2023 edition of our Urban Mobility Trends report we found most people think cost of living, housing affordability, hospitals/healthcare and economic growth require more focus. With government budgets highly indebted and facing competing public funding priorities, most people support private sector investment in transport infrastructure.

Transurban’s roads, developed in partnership with both Australian and state governments (across all parties) are vital links connecting Australian cities’ road networks.

Often, we front up the money to build the roads cities need, enabling governments to spend their budgets on other key infrastructure (public transport, hospitals, schools and more). We charge tolls, in part, to recoup the costs of building and operating these roads. But our roads also deliver broad economic benefits.

For example, in research commissioned by Transurban, KPMG found Sydney’s toll road network will create $35.8 billion economic benefits over 30 years due to its accelerated delivery by the private sector. This includes:

$11.8B in total benefits to business and freight users through travel-time savings, vehicle operating savings and travel-time reliability benefits, and $9.4B in similar benefits to personal users
$14.5B in wider economic benefits such as significantly improving access to economic centres and increasing participation in the labour market.

Read the full economic analysis

After comparing both models we found:

50% preferred a road-user charge
32% preferred the current funding model (preference for the current funding model decreased to 23% after respondents learned sticking with the current model may potentially lead to reduced government funding for future roads and infrastructure projects.)
18% were undecided.

Transurban’s roads, developed in partnership with both Australian and state governments (across all parties) are vital links connecting Australian cities’ road networks.

$11.8B in total benefits to business and freight users through travel-time savings, vehicle operating savings and travel-time reliability benefits, and $9.4B in similar benefits to personal users
$14.5B in wider economic benefits such as significantly improving access to economic centres and increasing participation in the labour market.

Read the full economic analysis

Smart roads

While Transurban’s roads are already some of the most technologically advanced in the world, we’re not resting on our laurels. We’re already busy preparing our roads for the future.

Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) will benefit from roads that can ‘talk’ to them, providing vital information about what’s happening around them and ahead, beyond the range of their own sensors. We’ve trialled various types of CAVs on our motorways, both to investigate this technology and to identify issues and opportunities specific to our road infrastructure.

Our most recent trial involved an automated truck travelling on CityLink (Melbourne), using its automated driving technology to navigate along the motorway. This Australian-first trial tested both the automated truck’s operations on a managed motorway, and also tested how our road technology data (for example, speed limit information) could enhance the truck’s on-road performance. Read the full repor t, or check out findings from our other CAV trials.

CAV trials

Future

Future

Explore the data

Growing cities

Road funding reform

Smart roads

Growing cities

Population growth

Congestion

Projects

Population growth

Congestion

Road funding

Fuel excise

Road user charging

Public private partnerships

Fuel excise

Road user charging

Smart roads