‘Transport and Energy Futures in Remote Australia’

Exploration of Key Issues

Bruno Spandonide

Ninti One

Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation (CRC-REP)

Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT)

Tira Foran, David Fleming, Bruno Spandonide, Rachel Williams

CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences

Digby Race

Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation (CRC-REP)

Ninti One

CSIRO Social and Economic Sciences Program

Transport Futures project

Questions of the Transport Futures project:

• How sustainable are current transport systems in remote Australia?

• How transport systems could be more sustainable in a demographic,

economic and climate change context?

Transport Futures project timeline

Transport and Energy Futures project

Transport Energy Futures Workshop discussion:

• Which types of energy-related transport innovations have been implemented

in remote Australia?

• What might the future hold for innovative practices in remote Australia?

Definitions

• Transportation can be defined as the physical movement of goods and

passengers. Transportation has some ontological universal relations with the

identity of people interacting in specific spaces and times.

• “Remote” corresponds in this project to the Aria+ definition of remoteness

(indexed on access to infrastructures and services).

Transport Systems in Remote Australia

The transport systems in remote Australia consist of several vital components:

• Long distance transport (maritime, rail, air, and road services).

• City commuting (cars and buses).

• Community transport and special services.

Transport systems are crucial to maintain the wellbeing of remote

communities.

Livelihoods Outcomes

As a complex process transport

activities impact different inter-related

livelihoods areas on multiple levels.

Key Barriers

In non-remote Australia transport systems sustainability is defined by the

efficiency and the effectiveness criteria. In remote Australia the main barriers

concern transport access and safety with a number of causal factors:

Geographic (very long distances, extreme climatic conditions),

Historic (less developed regions, history of segregation),

Socio-economic (inequalities with direct impacts on transport access, low

cost recovery),

Financial (high costs of supply chain),

Business models (coverage, frequencies, information access),

Technology (lack of access and design of appropriate technology/integrated

infrastructures),

Institutional (restricted coordination), and

Political (instability of long term public programs).

Top Five Concerns

The main concerns related to the current transport systems in remote

Australia are (GA research, 2011):

1. Petrol price increase

2. Time (low frequency) and access to public transport

3. Lack of roads

4. Public transport fares

5. Connection between services and benefits for the local economy

Sustainable Transport Framework of the

Australian Transport Council (2006)

The sustainability of transport systems is determined by several

parameters such as the safety, the reliability the affordability, and the

efficiency of transport systems. In remote Australia access to safe,

reliable, affordable, and efficient forms of transport is an ongoing

issue.

Transport Safety

Safety: More accidents and higher transport-related

criminality rates in remote Australia

(by almost one degree of magnitude)

• In very remote communities the road casualty rate is almost eight times

the national rate (54.1/100,000 against 7.7 for Central Australia in 2011).

• Ratios of one registered vehicle for 13 persons can be found in remote

Australia compared to one registered vehicle for 1.2 persons in non-

remote Australia. A high number of vehicles are not roadworthy.

• High emergency costs incurred.

Transport Reliability

Transport reliability is a complex topic which includes:

• Transport accessibility: 18% of people in very remote communities do

not have access to regular transports, (from NATISS survey, 2010).

• Technical parameters: time, speed, efforts.

• Institutional parameters: regulations.

In remote Australia a large number of transport systems are not easily

accessible, are run with low frequencies and face an inappropriate regulation

designed for non-remote Australia.

Transport Affordability

• Transport costs are two to three times higher in remote Australia than

in the rest of the country (from 30 to 80 cents/km for road transport).

• The average income in remote Australia is substantially lower than in

non-remote Australia.

• For the most disadvantaged communities the transport weekly budget

can be up to four times the average (50% of the total budget).

• Infrastructures and services costs for the society and in particular

on the Federal and State budgets are high.

Transport Efficiency

• The remote Australian transport system is heavily reliant on fossil

fuel uses with extreme costs for very remote communities (up to 60% higher).

• A majority of private transport vehicles are inefficient (average fuel

consumption over 10l/100km).

• Designs of unsealed roads have a restricted life span and limit further the use of

conventional vehicles.

• A lot of vehicles and infrastructures privately or publicly owned have a partial use.

• Emissions per capita in remote Australia are very high and transportation

systems in Remote Australia contribute actively to these emissions.

Key Challenges

Different types of challenges might affect the transport industry and transport

organisations in remote Australia:

• Climate change impacts (transport infrastructure and services affected)

• Demographic changes (increase and decrease), and

• Economic changes (rising fuel costs, economic crises).

• Extreme climatic events occur in north-central Australia and an increase

in intensity and frequency can be anticipated (floods, droughts, storms…).

• In contrast, the population in remote areas is growing with life expectancy

increases.

Acknowledgements

This research is conducted by the CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Ninti One,

the Collaborative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation, and

the Centre for Appropriate Technology.

Special thanks for the wonderful team spirit of my colleagues Tira Foran,

Rachel Williams, David Fleming and Digby Race.