Reports
Actions for Volume Eight 2011 Focus on Transport and Ports
Volume Eight 2011 Focus on Transport and Ports
The report includes comments on financial audits of government agencies in the Transport and Ports sectors. The audit of corporations’ financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2011 resulted in unmodified audit opinions within the Independent Auditor’s Reports. A key recommendation from the report is that Sydney Ports Corporation should continue working with other government authorities and industry stakeholders to improve the effectiveness of program initiatives for increasing container freight movements by rail. The Corporation should review the underlying causes hindering growth in the rail mode and develop and implement strategies to address the unfavourable trend.
Actions for Improving road safety: Young drivers
Improving road safety: Young drivers
The audit concluded that the RTA’s licence testing and regulation has been generally effective in ensuring the safety of young drivers. There has been a significant reduction in crash and fatality rates involving young drivers over the last decade, more so than for drivers 26 years and older. This has coincided with the introduction by the RTA of an enhanced GLS. International and national research has demonstrated graduated licensing systems to be effective in reducing crashes and saving lives. Despite these improvements, young drivers are more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than other drivers.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #217 - released 19 October 2011
Actions for Improving Road Safety: Speed Cameras
Improving Road Safety: Speed Cameras
We found that fixed speed cameras were generally located in areas with high road safety risk. Likewise, safety cameras that enforced speed limits were initially placed at high risk sites. However as all safety cameras will now enforce speed, RTA no longer uses evidence of a speeding problem to select these sites. Overall, total crashes and injuries each fell 26 per cent, and fatalities fell by more than two-thirds, in the three years after the installation of fixed speed camera. Long term trends show that these reductions have been maintained, the average number of speeding fines per fixed and safety cameras declines over time and fixed and safety speed cameras were located in areas with high road safety risk.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #215 - released 27 July 2011
Actions for Government expenditure and transport planning in relation to implementing Barangaroo
Government expenditure and transport planning in relation to implementing Barangaroo
Barangaroo is an ambitious and significant development on Government-owned Sydney Harbour foreshore. Construction on the 22 hectare CBD site is expected to take 12 years to 2023. Developer contributions to Government of $1 billion are to provide for public domain and other Government development costs, including a six hectare Headland Park. When completed the precinct is to service an anticipated 26,000 workers and residents and up to 33,000 visitors a day. The Auditor-General concluded that while there was extensive transport planning and extensive documentation supporting Government financial forecasts, considerable risks remain for the implementation of the Barangaroo project.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #214 - released 15 June 2011
Actions for Volume Nine 2010 focus on Transport, Planning and Industry
Volume Nine 2010 focus on Transport, Planning and Industry
The report includes comments on his financial audits of NSW Government transport, planning and industry agencies for 2009-10. A key recommendation from the report is that the New South Wales Government identify lessons learnt from the metro experience and ensure that future decision processes are developed to ensure the State never again expends such a large amount of scarce transport funding dollars and valuable time on a project that does not proceed.
Actions for Volume Five 2010 focus on Public Financing Enterprises
Volume Five 2010 focus on Public Financing Enterprises
The report includes comments on NSW Treasury and agencies in the finance and superannuation sectors. The New South Wales public sector superannuation funds’ investments were $42.2 billion at 30 June 2010, up from $38.5 billion in 2009. Investment returns reached 14.5 per cent in 2009-10. This is a significant improvement on the investment returns of up to negative 18.4 per cent at the peak of the global financial crisis in 2008.
Actions for Improving the Performance of Metropolitan Bus Services
Improving the Performance of Metropolitan Bus Services
The 2004 Review of Bus Services in NSW always envisaged that there would be a transition period as the new bus contracts were introduced. NSWTI has developed and implemented the new arrangements, and pursued a range of new initiatives including the network improvement program, strategic corridors and uniform bus fares and concessions. The new contracts provided for a performance management regime to hold operators accountable. But this is still being developed four years after the bus contracts came into effect and it remains unproven as a basis for ensuring value for money from the contracts - each of which guarantees monopoly rights to the operators.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #198 - released 10 March 2010
Actions for Improving Road Safety: School Zones
Improving Road Safety: School Zones
Overall, speed cameras change driver behaviour and improve road safety. Fixed speed cameras reduce crashes and speeding. While the overall impact of speed cameras has been positive, 38 of the 141 fixed speed cameras need to be closely examined as they appear to have no significant road safety benefit. Other road safety measures may be needed for these sites.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #197 - released 10 March 2010
Actions for Signal failures on the metropolitan rail network
Signal failures on the metropolitan rail network
Between 2004 and 2006, the number of signalling failures, signalling downtime and the number of trains delayed as a result of signal failures all fell. RailCorp’s on-time running performance improved over the same period. The fall in failures is a clear indication of improved performance. Changes in the definition of on-time and to the timetable during 2005 and 2006 however make it difficult to determine whether improvements in response downtime and signalling delays are due to a true performance improvement. To build upon this strong base, RailCorp needs to determine with more confidence the number and duration of signalling failures the network can tolerate without impacting on service levels.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #170 - released 15 August 2007
Actions for Connecting with public transport
Connecting with public transport
We see considerable potential for the Ministry of Transport to plan and manage interchanges more effectively, so as to make better use of our public transport network. We believe that the Ministry now needs to focus more on multi-modal transport planning and interchange performance. It needs to assign responsibility for the coordination and oversight of inter-modal operations to an entity resourced for the purpose. Without this it will continue to be very difficult to identify and address unmet needs, seek and secure stakeholder funding, and monitor and evaluate system performance.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #168 - released 6 June 2007