The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) is investigating the feasibility of alternative forms of pricing for road infrastructure access for heavy vehicles. These alternatives more closely relate prices to the actual usage of the road network by each vehicle as well as potentially providing a better link between road agency revenue and road expenditure.
The Discussion Paper focuses on estimating road costs, outlining options for heavy vehicle pricing, describing the methodology for how prices will be developed and detailing the economic assessment framework that will be used to compare options. The economic assessment will be primarily based on understanding the impact that different pricing options have on road use behaviour.