Introduction and overview
Decarbonising road transport through sustainable driving While EV uptake is generating fiscal challenges around fuel excise, it also presents a significant opportunity to lower global GHG emissions and improve air quality. Road transport generates around 12% 2 of global GHG emissions. In Australia, EV sales grew by 120% in 2023. 3 In May 2024, almost 20% of new cars bought in Australia were low-emission vehicles such as hybrids, plug-in hybrids or EVs. 4 Globally, EV sales are projected to reach 17 million in 2024, equating to one in five cars sold worldwide being electric. 5 Our latest research has found that 38% of Australians and 37% of people in North America would like their next car to be an EV. 6 While increasing competition in the global EV market could see prices decline, affordability remains the biggest barrier to more widespread adoption. Transurban is supporting the Parliamentary Friends of Electric Vehicles and Future Fuels Transport Group, a bipartisan group of Federal MPs focused on resolving challenges to the transition to an EV Australian vehicle fleet. Read more on page 33. Changing stakeholder expectations Consumers, security holders, investors, employees and broader stakeholder groups continue to raise the bar for ESG performance. These heightened expectations, particularly among investors, are driving enhanced ESG reporting obligations mandated by global jurisdictions. In June 2023, the ISSB issued its first two standards, related to sustainability-related financial information and climate-related disclosures. These standards are set to transform how companies consider sustainability risks and opportunities in their businesses. The application of ISSB across jurisdictions is gaining momentum. In Australia, Transurban is expected to be captured as part of Group 1 under new climate-first ASRS reporting, from 1 July 2025.
The Victorian Government lost a legal challenge to its road-user charge that charged low and zero-emission vehicles a per-kilometre rate for travel. The charge was designed to recoup some of the lost revenue from EV drivers who use the roads but are not subject to fuel excise. Multiple states in the US have been trialling a pay-per-mile road-user charging system as an opportunity to address inequities and create a more sustainable road funding model. As a long-term advocate for a fairer system, Transurban has partnered with the Eastern Transportation Coalition, a partnership of 19 states in the US, Washington, DC and District of Columbia, to assess the feasibility of transitioning to a distance-based road user funding approach. Transurban is also serving as the technology partner for the California Department of Transportation’s Road Charge Collection Pilot, the first such program in California that processes real-money transactions for road usage within the state. Climate change and nature Extreme weather events and the repercussions of climate change continue to be felt around the globe. Our roads are major transport corridors so it is vital we ensure they can withstand major weather events such as storms, flooding and high temperatures. As an industry leader we are working to transition our business to net-zero emissions by 2050. We will continue to work with our stakeholders to help drive standards and innovations that will reduce the environmental impacts of road operations and construction projects. This includes increasing our use of lower carbon materials, 1 switching to renewable energy and educating drivers about ways they can reduce emissions. We have also seen heightened recognition of the accelerating loss of nature around the globe and its importance to the economy. Reporting on impacts on nature, biodiversity and ecological systems is the next focus area for the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).
Consumers, investors, employees and regulators are also becoming ever more alert to false or exaggerated ESG claims. Combatting ‘greenwashing’ claims is also a regulatory priority for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). AI and new technologies Evolving transport technologies – particularly connected and automated vehicles – have been on the horizon for some time. Connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology may offer major safety benefits with human error a factor in almost 95% of crashes. 7 This technology is also expected to reduce congestion, with CAVs programmed to maintain a safe and consistent distance apart. While the timeline has slipped for general adoption, a McKinsey Center for Future Mobility survey (2023) found that robo-taxis were expected to become commercially available at a large scale by 2030, and fully autonomous trucking expected to be viable between 2028 and 2031. 8 Transurban has partnered with a Silicon Valley-based autonomous driving software company, Plus, to further explore connected and autonomous driving technology. With road freight in Australia expected to increase by around 77% 9 in the next 25 years, this partnership will help Transurban, industry and governments understand what the future of road freight transport could look like, particularly for safety and congestion, as vehicle and autonomous driving technologies progress over the coming decades. We have also run CAV trials in most of our markets to understand how these vehicles’ driving systems would interact with our roadside technology. AI is another area that we are harnessing to improve the safety and efficiency of our roads. For example, in our Transurban Queensland Network Operations Centre, predictive analytics, automation and machine-learning technology is used to predict congestion, and identify and respond to incidents faster.
1 S ee page 47 for examples of recent materials used 2 O ur World in Data, 18 September, Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from? Accessed June 2024 3 E lectric Vehicle Council, July 2023, State of Electric Vehicles 4 T he Guardian, 6 June 2024, One in four cars sold in May in Australia was an EV or hybrid vehicle, data shows 5 F orbes, 19 May 2024, The vibes lie: electric vehicles accelerate toward 50% of global sales, accessed June 2024 6 Transurban Insights: Electric Vehicles, February 2024 7 A lliance for Automotive Innovation, Benefits of Automated Vehicles, accessed June, 2024 8 M cKinsey & Company, Autonomous vehicles moving forward, Perspectives from industry leaders, 5 January 2024 9 BITRE, 2022, Australian aggregate freight forecasts – 2022 update
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