More investment in Australia's transport or risk gridlock: report

Sydney

AUSTRALIA must pour more money into transport systems or risk gridlock in its biggest cities costing more than A$53 billion (S$55.44 billion) a year, an infrastructure audit has found. Road congestion across its six largest cities, particularly in Sydney, cost some A$13.7 billion in 2011, the Infrastructure Australia report said on Friday. The economic toll could rise to A$53.3 billion a year in 2031 unless more money is invested, it added.

"The costs of delay - to ourselves, to our businesses and to our economy are almost never counted," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said as he launched the report and pledged his government's commitment to funding infrastructure projects. "A$53 billion a year in congestion costs in just 15 years' time - that's more than A$1 billion every week."