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INFRASTRUCTURE VICTORIA HAS LAID OUT A MULTIFACETED PLAN TO TACKLE THE STATE’S CONGESTION AND POPULATION CHALLENGES. ROADS & INFRASTRUCTURE EXPLORES HOW THESE PLANS ARE EXPECTED TO SHAPE UP IN 2020 IN THE LEAD UP TO A NEW 30-YEAR DRAFT INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGY.
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anaging the state’s congestion issues, infrastructure and transport planning may not be front of everyone’s minds during this time, but the issues are still very much on the agenda. Independent advisory body Infrastructure Victoria (IV) has been continuing its work to produce a draft 30-year infrastructure strategy. Expected in October this year, a final version is planned to be released in mid 2021 and tabled in parliament. Released in 2019, Growing Victoria’s potential: the opportunities and challenges of Victoria’s population growth set the scene for the strategy update by highlighting the key talking points tipped to manage a state on track to become Australia’s most populous city. Some of the initial conversation starters were the need to increase population
Jonathan Spear says Infrastructure Victoria is examining how we deal with change.
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density to accommodate growth, targeted regional investment to address challenges and opportunities and planning and delivering infrastructure in a manner consistent with how people want to live and work. While Melbourne will continue to be a low-density city, the report highlights that increased densification could help improve the level of infrastructure and services governments can provide to the community. Jonathan Spear, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer at IV, says that in addition to the focus on regional Victoria’s needs, making use of infrastructure better and improving on its delivery, a timely focus is: how do we deal with change? “There’s some well-known changes that we have to deal with over time, [including] climate change and some of the known technology changes like increased automation, and changes in the energy system,” Mr. Spear says. He adds that IV is also looking at the role infrastructure plays in building resilience. “Classic examples at the moment are both the bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic and the role of infrastructure there.” He says this is what stakeholders have told IV and what it has subsequently been working on. Mr. Spear says that IV has been thinking about the role of infrastructure in facing challenges such as climate change, population growth or technology. “There will be lots of lessons to be learnt from both bushfires and the current pandemic that we will be reflecting on when we can, when we release the draft strategy later in the year,” Mr. Spear says. “A key theme of IV’s work is integration of land use and infrastructure planning. Because
a lot of the benefits that you get: socially, environmentally and economically are when you get that right,” Mr. Spear explains. When it comes to the regions, IV’s 2019 report developed profiles for each of the reasons to understand their needs. The report highlights a focus on leveraging existing rail and road infrastructure, improving transport links and fit-forpurpose infrastructure. Conversely, it appears to caution against using the regions to relieve pressure on Melbourne. “We don’t think moving a large number of people through Melbourne to the regions say through a fast rail is going to make much of a difference to Melbourne’s growth challenges or necessarily help those regional cities,” Mr. Spear says. “There are a range of reasons why you give regional cities good transport connections to Melbourne, but we don’t think that reducing population pressure in Melbourne is one of them.” One of the models that Infrastructure Victoria is looking at to reduce congestion is transport network pricing – a focus detailed in its Good move fixing transport congestion report. This means a shift away from fixed upfront charges such as registration towards usage-based charges, focusing on distance travelled, time of day and mode of travel. Mr. Spear points out that while there’s not much congestion now on the roads and on the public transport system (for obvious reasons), he highlights the risk of returning back to where we were previously. “Unless we make a change to our behaviour we are going to back to the sort of congestion we saw before this pandemic,” Mr. Spear says. “That’s why we think it’s a really good time
