Transport funding – what’s the answer?

Is increasing transport fees the way to pay for improved transport services? Sydney based think tank, the McKell Institute, think it could be.

A recently released McKell Institute report ‘Getting us there’ says the Baird Government’s plan to sell off the state’s poles and wires to pay for our transport infrastructure costs is a Greece-style disaster waiting to happen.

It argues that to privatise profitable enterprises in order to fund non-profitable services makes no sense (our poles and wires generate an ongoing return on investment, while last year it costs taxpayers $2.7billion to run RailCorp).

There’s no doubt that NSW residents, and Australians generally, are unconvinced governments have the strategies in place to keep up with the growing demand for transport infrastructure.

Do you agree that by selling off our assets like our poles and wires, the government would be preparing NSW coffers for collapse? And would it mean our public transport system would be next once all the funds from the sale of our poles and wires is gone?

Do you think that a slight increase in ticket price (the report says the increase must be low enough to ensure it doesn’t result in a decrease of people using the services) and the charges levied on property near new transport projects would fly with NSW voters?

You can see the whole report here.