Road transport is an element of the Australian transport network, and contributes to the Australian economy. Australia relies heavily on road transport due to Australia's large area and low population density in considerable parts of the country.
Another reason for the reliance upon roads is that the Australian rail network has not been sufficiently developed for a lot of the freight and passenger requirements in most areas of Australia. This has meant that goods that would otherwise be transported by rail are moved across Australia via road trains. Almost every household owns at least one car, and uses it most days.
Victoria is the state with the highest density of arterial roads in Australia.
History
Costs and funding
Funding and responsibility for Australia's road network is split between the three levels of government; Federal, State and Local. Because of long distances, low population densities, and widely separated major settlements, the costs of and funding for roads in Australia has been, historically, a major fiscal issue for all levels of government, especially Federal and State. The popular phrase 'the tyranny of distance', also the title of a famous historical work, captures the central role of transport in Australian policy, producing many conflicts. It was not until the Bland enquiry in Victoria that there was an attempt to outline the complex questions in economic theory and practice of determining and measuring road costs and their allocation. In 1978-80 the McDonell Enquiry reviewed road and rail freight transport in New South Wales and its affected cities and regions, (the 'hub' of the Australian freight transport system). It was set up because of the 'truckies' blockades and national disturbances which disrupted access to all mainland capitals. These were largely sparked by the levels of road taxes. This enquiry developed the first comprehensive theoretical and measurement system for assessing and allocating road costs,. This system was subsequently applied more widely, and then extended, with later studies, for the establishment of current national policy and principles.
The Federal government provides funds under the AusLink programme for several funding programs including: National Projects National Network Maintenance, essentially the National Highway, comprising the main freeways and highways linking the major cities of Australia Roads to Recovery Program - provides funding allocations to councils in each State or Territory. Black Spot Program (improvements to high accident risk spots) Strategic Regional Program Innovation and Research Funding for Local Roads
Other highways and main roads linking regional centres are funded by the respective state governments. Local and minor roads are generally funded by the third tier of government, local councils.
The Business Council of Australia in its Infrastructure Action Plan, estimated that in 2004, road infrastructure was under funded by A$10 billion.
Roads and highways
Different standards of roads are generally called by various names. With wide variations in population across the nation, the name of a road does not always reflect the construction or capacity of a particular road.
Freeways, motorways, expressways and tollways
Freeways are major roads with more than one lane of traffic in each direction designed for higher speed operation. They have barriers or wide median strips separating traffic travelling in opposite directions, and grade-separated intersections without roundabouts or traffic lights in the main route. Some toll roads are called motorways or tollways to avoid perceived difficulties with charging people to use a freeway. Most Australian capital cities have one or more freeways across, past, or leading to them.
When limited-access highways began to be built in Sydney in the 1950s, beginning with the Cahill Expressway, they were provisionally named expressways, but in the 1960s Australian transport ministers agreed that they be called freeways (like in the United States and other countries). The Cahill Expressway has kept its original name. Melbourne's South Eastern Freeway (now called the 'Monash Freeway') was the second freeway to be opened in Australia, in 1961. However, it was originally only a short road.
Victoria has the most extensive major arterial (freeway) network in the country, including tollways.