Table 76 shows the daily vehicle kilometres travelled by vehicle type between major O/D pairs in the greater Adelaide region. This shows freight traffic constitutes a relatively high proportion of
traffic for some O/D pairs, in particular for travel between the West Torrens and Adelaide City SA3 regions.
Table 76: Daily VKT by vehicle type between major O/D pairs in the greater Adelaide region Utilisation
(VKT/day) (VKT/day)Utilisation (VKT/day)Utilisation
LCV & HCV as % of daily VKT
From To Car LCV HCV
West Torrens Adelaide City 137,333 10,150 8,809 12.1%
Charles Sturt Adelaide City 151,765 8,573 7,405 9.5%
Port Adelaide – West Charles Sturt 233,181 11,448 6,915 7.3%
West Torrens Charles Sturt 187,452 8,543 5,616 7.0%
Salisbury Playford 301,469 12,097 7,959 6.2%
Salisbury Port Adelaide – East 180,699 7,065 4,241 5.9%
Tea Tree Gully Salisbury 313,835 9,092 4,814 4.2%
Onkaparinga Marion 386,135 9,795 6,448 4.0%
Mitcham Marion 163,163 4,808 1,939 4.0%
Onkaparinga Mitcham 235,487 4,894 4,784 3.9%
Source: Infrastructure Australia analysis of data from Veitch Lister Consulting (2014f) Key freight routes within Adelaide run between
the south, north and western parts of the city. This leads to a convergence of freight to the west of central Adelaide to connect with the Port and the north-west. The SA Integrated Transport
and Land Use Plan prioritises upgrades of the
North−South Corridor including the Northern Expressway, Northern Connector and South Road, and separation of freight and passenger rail at Goodwood Junction.
5.6.2 National highways
Of Australia’s 34,656 km of national highways (which include the National Land Transport Network highways and other key freight routes) identified in the Audit, 3,860 km are in SA. This includes the following national highway links connecting Australia’s capital cities:
■Adelaide to Perth (Eyre Highway Route 1);
■Adelaide to Darwin (Stuart Highway Route 87);
■Adelaide to Sydney (Sturt Highway Route 20); and
■Adelaide to Melbourne (Dukes highway and Western Highway Route 8).
Key freight routes in SA include roads serving Port Augusta, Whyalla, Port Lincoln, Leigh Creek and Roxby Downs. In 2011, the national highways in SA carried an average of 68,110 vehicles per day.
Figure 97 shows the National Land Transport Network highways and the other key SA freight routes included in the Audit. Together these routes play an important role in facilitating industry and enabling business and community activity. The DEC of these roads in 2011 was estimated at $511 million. This is projected to increase to $722 million in 2031, an increase of 41 per cent. These are relatively small figures in the national context. The total DEC for national highways and key freight routes in 2011 was $9.5 billion. This is projected to grow to $15.6 billion in 2031.
Figure 97: National Land Transport Network highways and key freight routes South Australia 2011
The map shows highways identified in the Audit. Data was not available for all of these highways. Source: ACIL Allen Consulting (2014a)
The most economically significant road corridors run north from Adelaide to the mining centres and through to Darwin. The DEC for these roads is projected to increase by 154 per cent to 2031, marginally faster than the projected increase of around 138 per cent for the highways connecting to the east and west coast capital cities.
The SA Government’s Regional Mining and
Infrastructure Plan441 identifies that increased
capacity will be needed to service increased mining sector production. The draft Integrated
Transport and Land Use Plan442 articulates the
importance of the Strzelecki Track in supporting the expanding gas fields in the Cooper Basin.
5.6.3 Freight rail
The interstate freight rail network in SA comprises links between Adelaide and Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Darwin (via Tarcoola). The DEC of freight rail in SA is projected to increase from $13 million in 2011 to $15 million in 2031, an increase of around 20 per cent. There is no evidence of capacity constraint.
Interstate rail freight between SA and WA is forecast to double between 2013 and 2030. The key driver of demand in this rail corridor is the rail market share for freight between Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth, with Melbourne and Sydney volumes dominating. The Tarcoola to Darwin rail line has strong market share for freight on the Adelaide to Darwin corridor, and supports the development of mines and other resource developments along the corridor.
441. South Australian Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (2014), pp. 36-37 442. South Australian Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (2013)
5.6.4 Ports
On a national scale, SA ports are relatively small, accounting for around two per cent of the country’s total imports and exports in 2013 (measured in mass tonnes).
Port Adelaide/Outer Harbor is the largest port in SA. Other regional ports include Thevenard, Port Lincoln, Port Bonython, Port Pirie, Wallaroo, Port Giles, Klein Point and Ardrossan. The regional ports support significant export volumes from SA’s
agricultural, mining and resource sectors. The expansion of a number of these regional ports, as well as development of new high-capacity ports, could support further significant increases in exports, especially of minerals and resources. The DEC of SA ports is projected to increase by 48 per cent, from $1.09 billion in 2011 to $1.61 billion in 2031. The Audit shows the Port of Adelaide’s bulk terminal facilities are likely to need additional capacity within the 15 year timeframe of the Plan.
Table 77: South Australian port tonnages – 2012–13
Total Throughput (mass tonnes) Containerised trade in TEU
Port Imports Exports Total
Total as % of national
total Imports Exports Total
Total as % of national total Port Adelaide (Flinders) 6,588,315 8,578,024 15,166,339 1.34% 168,742 170,319 339,061 4.73% Thevenard (Flinders) 0 2,046,271 2,046,271 0.18% 0 0 0 0.00% Port Lincoln (Flinders) 256,744 1,636,257 1,893,001 0.17% 0 0 0 0.00% Klein Point (Flinders) 0 1,758,968 1,758,968 0.16% 0 0 0 0.00% Wallaroo (Flinders) 0 760,553 760,553 0.07% 0 0 0 0.00% Port Giles (Flinders) 0 719,159 719,159 0.06% 0 0 0 0.00% Port Pirie (Flinders) 386,576 217,643 604,219 0.05% 0 0 0 0.00% South Australia Total 7,231,635 15,716,875 22,948,510 2.03% 168,742 170,319 339,061 4.73%
Source: Ports Australia (2014a)443
The Regional Mining and Infrastructure Plan identifies444 that increased port capacity will
be needed to service increased mining sector production.