NSW Transport Administration Amendment Bill 2010

On 2 June the Transport Administration Amendment Bill 2010 was passed by the NSW Parliament.

This Bill will make several changes to the governance arrangements dictating transport operations and transport policymaking in NSW.

Transport involves a significant portion of the NSW budget, in 2009-10 the Government invested $7.1 billion in operating and expanding the NSW public transport system and $4.4 Billion in maintaining and upgrading the road network.

Key initiatives of the bill

  • The Bill will further strengthen the role of Transport NSW.
  • The Director General of Transport NSW will have overarching accountability for the delivery of all transport infrastructure, transport policy, planning and service coordination, timetabling, incident management and the power to administer a single transport budget across rail, bus, ferry and cycle, roads and freight.
  • Transport NSW will have overall responsibility of the $50.2 billion Metropolitan Transport plan. RailCorp , State Transit Authority, Sydney Ferries and the RTA will all report to the Director General of Transport NSW.
  • The Bill establishes a coordination division within Transport NSW. This team will have staff from various agencies in order to coordinate daily transport issues across NSW.
  • The Bill aims to ensure the Director General will have responsibility to deliver effective transport planning aligned with land use strategies established for metropolitan and regional areas.
  • The Bill allows more flexible movement of staff across the various transport bureaucracies.
  • The Bill will remove the host of statutory boards that exist in transport down to a single statutory board called the Transport Advisory council.
    – The Transport Advisory Council will provide advice to the Government and have the ability to be engaged in specific    pieces of work aimed at improving efficiencies and service delivery across the portfolio.
  • The reliability functions of the Independent Transport Safety Reliability Regulator (which will be renamed the Independent Transport Safety Regulator) will be transferred to Transport NSW.
  • The Bill ensures new service delivery contracts are based on specific performance standards that will be monitored centrally.
  • Changes the Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (TIDC) and the Rail Infrastructure Corporation (RIC) from State owned corporations to statutory corporations having structures, accountabilities and staffing arrangements similar to RailCorp and Sydney Ferries.
  • Renames TIDC as the Transport Construction Authority and RIC as the Country Rail Infrastructure Authority.
  • Provides for the review by the ITSR (or by the Maritime Authority of NSW in the case of ferry services) of directions of the Director-General that may affect the safety management systems of certain transport authorities.
  • Provides for the abolition of the Public Transport Ticketing Corporation and Sydney Metro as statutory corporations, but provides for their temporary continuation for the purposes of managing their existing assets, rights and liabilities.

Four key objectives of the Bill

  1. Create an integrated approach to the delivery of transport services and infrastructure that results in public sector agencies delivering what is best for the community rather than their own set of priorities.
  2. To better coordinate the delivery of transport services to ensure budgets and resources are allocated to community priorities and can be shifted effectively to community needs.
  3. To enhance the accountability of the public sector agencies to deliver the transport services and infrastructure the community deserves through prioritisation of strategic targets and commitments of the portfolio, and ensuring greater focus on the customer and a more “results driven” culture.
  4. To ensure that safety for passengers, employees, and the community remains a top priority by enabling the independent safety regulator to assist the Director General in relation to bus and rail safety.