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REPORT OF AUSTRALIA’S
MAJOR TRANSPORT POLICY THE DELEGATION OF AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA’S MAJOR TRANSPORT POLICY DEVELOPMENTS INDEX Introduction
INTRODUCTION The Australian Government’s microeconomic reform agenda is proceeding with positive results. This economic update focuses on four key developments. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau was formed to promote communication and ideas transfer across the numerous transport safety organisations. Its primary objective is long-term cross-modal safety investigation and analysis. Australia’s National Strategy for Intelligent Transport Systems is to be considered by the Transport Ministers Meeting in mid November. A summary of the processes, themes and areas of action contained in the National Strategy is provided. Australia has been considering an appropriate mechanism to coordinate increasing uses of the Global Navigation Satellite System. The paper summarises the history and current status of this process. APEC Individual Action Plans have received renewed focus after the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, September 1999. The update contains improvements on transport elements of Australia’s 1999 IAP which was tabled at the Auckland meeting.
Australia, in common with many other APEC Economies, recognises the significant social, economic, environmental and commercial potential of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), through their capacity to improve the transport system and transport operations. In April 1998, Australia’s Transport Ministers from the Commonwealth, States and Territories therefore called for the development of a National Strategy for ITS. A draft Strategy has now been developed and will be considered by Transport Ministers at their meeting in mid-November 1999. This paper outlines some of the processes involved in developing the National Strategy, and proposed major themes and areas of action. As Ministers have yet to consider the proposed Strategy, it is not possible to comment on the specifics. Processes Transport Ministers requested Austroads (the association of Australian and New Zealand road and traffic authorities) to develop the National Strategy, in consultation with other transport modes. Austroads subsequently commissioned ITS Australia to undertake development of the Strategy. ITS Australia brings together representatives of industry, government, transport users and researchers, who are interested in developing and using advanced technologies to improve Australia’s transport operations. Development of the National Strategy has involved an extensive process of consultation. Seven workshops were convened around Australia in the National, State and Territory capital cities, to encourage broad participation. There was also an invitation for written submissions, and around 55 were received. In addition, development of the draft National Reference Architecture has involved its own extensive consultative process. Themes Several major themes have emerged during development of the draft National Strategy. In part, they mirror widespread experiences that many Economies have gone through, however, they also reflect the particular circumstances of Australia. Cooperation The success of the National Strategy for ITS, and achieving the objectives of interoperability and improved modal integration, will depend on improving levels of cooperation between the many stakeholders: including governments, industry, users, agencies and research organisations. Under the Australian federal system, for example, States and Territories have significant responsibilities for land transport, traffic management and public transport, while the Commonwealth is responsible for communications (an essential ingredient to ITS) - close cooperation will be essential to ensure jurisdictional impediments to nationally-interoperable systems are successfully removed. Another important area of cooperation is pre-competitive work on a National Architecture and standards, and includes international cooperation. Longer-Term Focus There is recognition that achieving the potential of ITS will come, not from isolated projects, but from a framework that encourages the integrated development and deployment of ITS into the future. Support for open architectures, broadly accepted standards, cooperation and participation, is critical to a successful long-term Strategy. Urban/Regional Australia is highly urbanised and has diverse regional and remote areas that have specific transport needs. ITS can help meet these needs. Many urban areas suffer from congestion and its implications (such as vehicle emissions), and regional areas need improvements to road safety, traveller and tourist information, transport accessibility, freight logistics, and transport infrastructure monitoring and management. Road safety is a key issue across urban and regional areas, but its characteristics differ, for example fatigue is a significant issue in country driving due to long distances. Australia’s ITS National Strategy recognises the importance of tackling the transport problems of regional Australia, as well as urban problems. Certainty and Flexibility It is important to provide the community and industry with as much certainty as possible about the future direction of the National Strategy, while at the same time remaining flexible, facilitating the dynamic technological change associated with ITS. In common with the national strategies of many APEC Economies, development of the Australian National Strategy has therefore focused on meeting outcomes for users, for example, through identifying outcome-oriented goals. During development of the Strategy, the importance of guiding principles for the Strategy’s evolution and implementation was identified as a means to balance flexibility and certainty. Pro-Competitive One of the best ways of facilitating growth in use of ITS is to ensure continued development of a competitive ITS market. This will keep costs down and help ensure ITS tools meet consumer needs. The importance of a competitive industry framework is promoted in the National Strategy. Areas of Action Several broad areas where specific actions are expected to yield substantial benefits from use of ITS have been identified. Achieving Interoperability Without interoperability, there is a limited future for ITS. Action is needed to continue to build on the draft National Reference Architecture which has been developed as part of the National Strategy and to participate in international standards-making fora in efforts to achieve consistent standards. Creating a National Institutional Framework Necessary cooperation between the numerous stakeholders to deliver a successful Strategy will require a national institutional framework. Such a framework is proposed in the National Strategy. Raising Awareness and Skills Poor public and industry awareness are impeding the take-up of ITS. ITS are often considered to be more ‘risky’ than traditional approaches. The need to raise awareness of ITS, including the skills awareness of user industries, is addressed in the proposed National Strategy. Fostering a Competitive Australian-based ITS Industry The Australian-based industry has a number of strengths and is well-advanced in various areas, such as: telecommunications technologies, advanced real-time traffic management (eg Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic Control System [SCATS]), navigation database development and logistics applications. These strengths will be encouraged through improved R & D and skills-development. The 8th ITS World Congress in 2001, to be held in Sydney, will provide an opportunity to showcase the successes of the Australian ITS industry. Encouraging International Cooperation The global ITS community is engaged in much positive cooperation on ITS issues, and Australia already participates in this. The benefits from involvement in relevant international fora should, however, be promoted. Establishing and Monitoring Demonstration Projects The value of demonstration projects has been proven in many ITS strategies around the world. In Australia, where there is already much installed ITS capacity, there are likely to be significant lessons from monitoring projects already under way, as well as embarking on new trials in areas of significant ITS benefit and innovation. Conclusion The proposed ITS National Strategy aims to set the right policy directions to enable Australia to benefit from use of ITS into the future. Its focus is on national priority actions to ensure ITS can make a significant contribution to tackling the major transport problems Australia faces over the coming decade and beyond. Contact Officer: Andrew Lewis (Andrew.Lewis@dotrs.gov.au) 2. Australian GNSS Coordination Developments Australia has been considering an appropriate mechanism to coordinate the increasing uses of the Global Navigation Satellite System (gnss). The Federal Department of Transport and Regional Services (DoTRS) has been working with Intelligent Transport Systems Australia (ITSA) on this issue. An Interim Australian GNSS Coordination Committee chaired by John Bowdler, Deputy Secretary of DoTRS, and Lauchlan McIntosh, President of ITSA, was formed in May 1999 to prepare a Business Case addressing the benefits which would arise from the establishment of the Australian GNSS Coordination Committee (AGCC). A list of members of the Interim Committee is attached. The Business Case has been prepared and circulated to stakeholders. The Government is currently considering it and hopes to make a decision shortly on the establishment of the AGCC. The AGCC would report to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, and through the Minister to other Federal Ministers and the Australian Transport Council. Membership of the AGCC, as was the case for the Interim Committee, would be drawn from a wide variety of sectors such as DoTRS; ITSA; Defence; aviation; maritime; land transport; emergency services; academia; legal; spectrum management and communications; timing; geomatics and geophysics; security; mining; natural resources; and industry providers (commercial and free-to-air). Subject to the availability of finance and resources, it is planned that the AGCC should be operational by early 2000. In relation to spectrum issues, Australia’s comments to the US on the Statement of APEC Transportation Ministers on the protection of the GNSS spectrum for all modes of transportation were incorporated in the final Statement. The US chairs the Satellite Navigation and Communications Systems (SN&C) Advisory Committee in the APEC Transportation Working Group which drafted the draft Ministerial statement. Membership OF THE Interim AUSTRALIAN GNSS COORDINATION COMMITTEE
The Secretariat for the Interim Committee is being provided by DoTRS. Contact Officer: Jennifer Anderssen
(jennifer.anderssen@dotrs.gov.au) Aviation Industry Overview APEC’s Individual Action Plans (IAPs) have received a renewed focus, after the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, September 1999. Following their decision at the Auckland meeting to improve the transparency and comparability of APEC members’ IAPs, Ministers have directed that a work program be put in place for the year 2000 to develop a guideline to show clearly how economies intend to meet the Bogor Goals of free trade and investment. In response to the Ministerial call, Singapore has announced that in consultation with Australia it would produce a prototype IAP for the first Senior Officials Meeting in February 2000, in Brunei. Australia has indicated that it would provide technical assistance to developing economies to improve their IAPs. Australia has participated in the APEC ‘IAP peer review’ process to explain the many micro-economic and regulatory reforms that have been undertaken in recent years and to highlight the resultant benefits
Improvements on Transport Commitments for Australia’s 1999 IAP Progress has been made on Australia’s 1998 IAP transport commitments relating to the review of international air services, motor vehicle standards and conformance, and maritime reforms. A full version of Australia’s 1999 APEC IAP (tabled at the Auckland meeting) is located at http://www.apectwg.org.au The Government has decided to expand current policy settings so that Australia will seek to negotiate reciprocal "open skies" arrangements with like-minded countries where this is in the national interest
Progress on motor vehicle standards and conformance includes:
Work on motor vehicle standards and conformance with New Zealand has commenced to develop a common pool of vehicle standards and a single vehicle-type approval process. This project is expected to be completed by 2000. The Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 is being reviewed for its appropriateness and efficiency in improving vehicle safety, emissions and anti-theft standards. In the maritime transport sector, progress on the commitments in the 1998 IAP include reviews of:
Contact Officer: Peter Siripol (Peter.Siripol@dotrs.gov.au)
On 1 July 1999, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) was established to improve the focus and co-ordination of the Commonwealth’s non-regulatory safety activity in all transport modes – air, sea, rail and road. The ATSB combines the expertise and safety resources of the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI), the non-regulatory parts of the Federal Office of Road Safety (FORS), the Marine Incident Investigation Unit (MIIU), and a new Rail Safety Unit. Hence, the ATSB will facilitate multi-modal synergies and better sharing of safety systems knowledge by incorporating the Commonwealth safety investigation and analysis roles for each transport mode. It will improve safety in all transport modes, by capitalising on the safety knowledge and expertise of the component elements. The establishment of the Bureau is aimed at achieving success similar to that obtained internationally through the multi-modal approach to transport safety. The ATSB will pursue its mission by building on the strengths of the component units such as:
Thus, all transport modes will benefit from access to the latest ideas in transport safety systems. Contact Officer: Carol Boughton (Carol.Boughton@atsb.gov.au) This page was last updated on 1 Feb, 2008 |
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