By Matt O'Sullivan
The state government should investigate a network-wide cap on charges for Sydney's growing labyrinth of toll roads, an inquiry has recommended.
In the wake of the reintroduction of tolls on a widened section of the M4 motorway, councils in western Sydney have argued a cap is needed to relieve its residents of the burden they bear from tolls compared with people in eastern parts of the city.
The cost of a daily return trip to Sydney Airport for someone living in Sydney's north west is almost $39, compared with about $13 for a resident from the north east, according to an analysis by a transport consultancy firm.
A report by a NSW legislative committee inquiry into tolls, which was tabled in Parliament on Friday, found there was a "disproportionate impact" on residents and businesses in Sydney's west.
Tolls on the widened M4 and other parts of WestConnex will rise by as much as 4 per cent a year.Credit: Nick Moir
But while the committee considered that a cap should be applied across Sydney's toll network, it said the cost implications were unclear. As such, it recommended the government investigate the costs and benefits of a network-wide cap.
Liberal MP Peter Phelps said he and other Coalition members of the committee were not in favour of a network-wide cap on tolls but they agreed that it could be investigated by the government.
Dr Phelps said the problem posed by a cap was that it could result in taxpayers in regional areas effectively subsidising heavy users of toll roads in Sydney.
"I've got no problem having the government looking at it but I suspect a toll cap across Sydney's roads is unlikely to go ahead for that reason," he said.
The inquiry comes as the Berejiklian government embarks on the sale of a 51 per cent stake in the $16.7 billion WestConnex motorway project. It has also committed to building the "Beaches Link" tunnel to Sydney's north east, and the F6 extension in the city's south, both of which will be tolled.
The committee's chair, Labor MP Greg Donnelly, said much of the evidence presented to the inquiry centred on "serious concerns" about a lack of transparency around tolling arrangements and Sydney Motorway Corporation, the entity the government set up to deliver WestConnex.
To address this, the 10 recommendations made in the report are directed towards ensuring more information about toll road projects, such as business cases and traffic forecasts, is released to the public.
And one of the recommendations was for Sydney Motorway Corporation to be subjected to freedom-of-information laws in the same way government departments are, and that the pay packages for its senior executives be revealed annually.
"Despite its multi-billiondollar price tag, it is not subject to the same transparency and accountability arrangements that govern the rest of the public sector. This lack of transparency is of concern to the committee," its report said.
The Greens' transport spokesman, Mehreen Faruqi, said the recommendation to mandate the disclosure of business cases was important but it stopped short of requiring full disclosure before a project started.
"There is no reason why the community shouldn't know why these projects are being built," she said.
The committee also recommended the government consider the consumer price index as the "default position" on which toll increases were based for new projects.
Charges for cars on some of Sydney's largest motorways such as the M2 and Eastern Distributor are, due to contracts signed with private tolling companies, growing at twice the present annual inflation rate of 1.9 per cent.
The so-called escalation rate for the WestConnex motorway will also be 4 per cent a year or CPI, whichever is higher.
However, Dr Phelps said he was concerned that a higher initial tolling rate or a longer period of tolls would result from using CPI as the default position.