Transurban rakes in Brisbane toll booty

TRANSURBAN says revenue from its Brisbane toll roads, including the Gateway Motorway and Legacy Way, helped drive large gains in annual profit.

The company yesterday reported a net profit excluding significant items for the financial year of $209 million, up from $148 million in the previous period. Overall toll revenue climbed 11.4 per cent to $2.08 billion.

Transurban chief executive

Scott Charlton said toll takings in Brisbane increased 22.9 per cent to $385 million with average daily trips increasing 15 per cent to 394,000.

“Queensland traffic numbers continue to ramp up,” Mr Charlton said. “Australia is not an overtolled market with customers on average spending less than $10 a month on tolls.”

Mr Charlton said the company also recorded increased toll revenue on its roads in Sydney, Melbourne and Greater Washington, in the US.

Transurban flagged it might be interested in bidding for Sydney’s WestConnex road link. The New South Wales Government said in May that it wanted to sell at least a 51 per cent stake in the highway to raise funds to complete the final stage of construction.

Mr Charlton said the company continued to invest in improving the efficiency of its road network, particularly in the area of technology.

“In addition to developing our portfolio, we have invested in a number of sustainability, technology and safety initiatives,” Mr Charlton said. This included the launch of its first live and connected automated vehicle trial on the Melbourne network.

In Brisbane, the company had been able to partner with the State Government to streamline payment processes, helping customers avoid more than $100 million in enforcement penalties.

“It is not in our interests for our customers to fall into the enforcement process,” Mr Charlton said.

“That is why we have invested in processes, such as digital platforms, to ensure customers are contacted as early as possible if there are issues around payment.”