Article: Transport’s role in unlocking Australia’s productivity puzzle

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Transport's role in unlocking Australia's productivity puzzle

Transport's role in unlocking Australia's productivity puzzle
by Rail Express — last modified Mar 02, 2011 11:30 AM

Investing in technologies to support a transport system that seamlessly connects rail, road and ports is crucial to improving Australia's lagging productivity and competitiveness, according to one of the largest ever industry-based meta-research studies released by Siemens last week.

By Jennifer Perry

The study found that degrading infrastructure and urban congestion are the major blockages to solving Australia's "productivity puzzle".

It suggests that by 2020 urban congestion alone could cost Australia up to $20.4bn in lost time, wasted fuel, maintenance and emissions.

Matthew Rait, who headed up Siemen's Picture the Future Productivity research, told Rail Express that the global "megatrend" of urbanisation has seen Australia having a high concentration of people in a small land volume which is putting pressure on infrastructure.

"Our investment and maintenance investment in infrastructure has been seriously lagging and our current average age of infrastructure is now greater than the long term average," Rait said.

"As a result we are starting to see a lot more transport on roads so we need to work to create modal shift to rail which will improve Australia's productivity and environmental sustainability.

"Our freight and logistics network is a key factor to getting our goods to market in a cost effective manner however, the costs of congestion coupled with a lack of investment in infrastructure are impacting our competitiveness.

"If we have declining productivity and are not competitive then our economic prosperity is at risk."

According to the study, investment in transport infrastructure should be first and foremost, followed by investigating alternative energy sources for powering rail freight.

"More than 80% of the east coast, north-south freight transfer is moved by road. We need a shift from road to rail as the primary mode of freight transport then look to clean energy as the main power source," Rait said.

"This will improve road safety, reduce road maintenance costs and improve our carbon footprint – basically improving our productivity"

Second to this is the need to address Australia's ports.

"Our two main ports, Botany and Melbourne, are both within 10km from their CBD, with freight traffic expected to increase by about two and a half times by 2030," he said.

"With trucks the predominant mode of transport from ports to landside terminals, we need to either relocate our ports or look at implementing a fast rail link to intermodal hubs that are regionalised."

Technology and innovation
The study links improvements to Australia's productivity performance with the adoption of technology and innovation.

Technology and innovation would also support the coordination of a robust transport system that links ports to road transport and rail.

"A really good example of this is where you can have advanced wireless and GPS tracking which would enable putting the signalling into the train driver's cab," Rait explains.

"Having a 'moving block' would increase infrastructure throughput and the capacity of the line."

Advanced train control systems are another technology that could increase throughput.

These systems enable dynamic braking which reduces train to train distances by a factor of two again increasing infrastructure capacity".

Regulatory change
The research also advocates for more collaboration for Australia's transport regulations.

"We have around 1300 regulatory bodies across three levels of governments; there is 35 areas of overlap state to state; and between the Commonwealth and states there's 18 areas of overlap," Rait said.
Germany, on the other hand, has one key regulatory body that looks after all key infrastructure.

"Similarly, Australia needs a national approach to governance and management of our key infrastructure if we are to achieve a sustainable level of competitiveness within our freight and logistics network.
"We also have the likes of different pricing mechanism for road and rail – we clearly do not have a level playing field."

In summary, the research supports maximising the throughput of our current infrastructure in the short term, rather than increasing spending on new infrastructure.

"There is technology available today that can achieve this" Rait said.

"At the moment governments are spending a fair bit of money on Australia's transport infrastructure, but the question needs to be asked, 'is it being spent on the right areas.'"

One of the key visions developed through Siemens' research is that Australia's freight and communications networks "seamlessly connect us".

"This cannot be achieved unless we adopt and invest in technologies that will enhance the productivity and competitiveness of these networks," Rait said.

Siemens has quantified its research after working with research partners CSIRO, the Grattan Institute and the Institute of Sustainable Futures.

Research is currently being conducted on mobility, and will identify how Australia's freight and logistics industries are a key component to improving productivity. Results of this research will be launched at the AusRAIL PLUS conference in November.