Transport for Victoria (TfV), part of the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, was established in April 2017. Its function is to plan, coordinate and manage the state’s transport system. TfV provides leadership to Victoria’s transport agencies, including VicRoads, Public Transport Victoria and V/Line, and is the customer of major project construction authorities, such as the Level Crossings Removal Authority, Rail Projects Victoria (formerly Melbourne Metro Rail Authority) and Major Road Projects Authority. TfV also works closely with VicTrack.
The objectives of Victoria’s transport system are defined in the Transport Integration Act 2010. Section 10 of the Act states that: ‘The transport system should actively contribute to environmental sustainability by:
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protecting, conserving and improving the natural environment;
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avoiding, minimising and offsetting harm to the local and global environment, including through transport-related emissions and pollutants and the loss of biodiversity;
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promoting forms of transport and the use of forms of energy and transport technologies which have the least impact on the natural environment;
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improving the environmental performance of all forms of transport and the forms of energy used in transport.’
TfV published Delivering the Goods – Victorian Freight Plan in July 2018. The plan sets out short, medium and long-term priorities to support Victoria’s freight and logistics system through a period of unprecedented growth in freight volumes.
Infrastructure Victoria released a five-year focus report in April 2018 that identified immediate actions to tackle congestion. The Infrastructure Victoria report found that, by 2030, the time spent on congested roads across Melbourne will increase by 20%.
In August 2018, Infrastructure Victoria published a report advising on automated and zero-emissions vehicles infrastructure. The report found zero-emissions vehicles would eliminate all vehicle tailpipe emissions, with a potential reduction in GHG emissions of up to 27 million tonnes by 2046 – the equivalent of about 25% of Victoria’s total GHG emissions in 2015. The report also found that eliminating vehicle exhaust emissions could deliver an annual health dividend to Victorians worth between $270 million and $735 million.