Integrated Transport Planning Transport Integrated | August 2021 August Integrated Transport Planning August 2021 Independent assurance report to Parliament 2021–22: 01 Level 31, 35 Collins Street, Melbourne Vic 3000, AUSTRALIA 2021–22: T 03 8601 7000 E [email protected] 01 www.audit.vic.gov.au This report is printed on Monza Recycled paper. Monza Recycled is certified Carbon Neutral by The Carbon Reduction Institute (CRI) in accordance with the global Greenhouse Gas Protocol and ISO 14040 framework. The Lifecycle Analysis for Monza Recycled is cradle to grave including Scopes 1, 2 and 3. It has FSC Mix Certification combined with 99% recycled content. ISBN 9781921060151 Integrated Transport Planning Independent assurance report to Parliament Ordered to be published VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTER August 2021 PP no 248, Session 2018–21 The Hon Nazih Elasmar MLC The Hon Colin Brooks MP President Speaker Legislative Council Legislative Assembly Parliament House Parliament House Melbourne Melbourne Dear Presiding Officers Under the provisions of the Audit Act 1994, I transmit my report Integrated Transport Planning. Yours faithfully Dave Barry Acting Auditor-General 4 August 2021 The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office acknowledges Australian Aboriginal peoples as the traditional custodians of the land throughout Victoria. We pay our respect to all Aboriginal communities, their continuing culture and to Elders past, present and emerging. Integrated Transport Planning | Victorian Auditor-General´s Report Contents Audit snapshot ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1. Audit context ..............................................................................................................................10 1.1 Victoria's transport system and legislation .......................................................................... 11 1.2 Transport planning requirements and guidance .............................................................. 12 1.3 Victoria's published transport plans ........................................................................................ 15 1.4 Changes in institutional arrangements since 2010 .......................................................... 18 1.5 Previous attempts at integration .............................................................................................. 19 1.6 Past VAGO audits of transport planning ............................................................................... 19 2. Transport plans ......................................................................................................................... 20 2.1 Do transport plans meet legislative requirements? ......................................................... 21 2.2 Absence of a single document .................................................................................................. 23 2.3 Transparency about the transport plan ................................................................................. 24 2.4 The Network Development Strategy ...................................................................................... 26 2.5 DoT's current transport planning work .................................................................................. 28 3. Integration challenges and progress ............................................................................... 34 3.1 Barriers and challenges identified in external reviews .................................................... 35 3.2 Governance and accountability ................................................................................................. 41 3.3 Informing investment priorities ................................................................................................. 45 APPENDIX A. Submissions and comments .............................................................................. 52 APPENDIX B. Acronyms and abbreviations ............................................................................. 57 APPENDIX C. Scope of this audit .................................................................................................. 58 APPENDIX D. Relevant VAGO performance audits since 2010 ........................................ 59 APPENDIX E. DoT's transport plans and strategies ............................................................... 62 Integrated Transport Planning | Victorian Auditor-General´s Report Audit snapshot Is the Department of Transport (DoT) demonstrably integrating its transport planning? Why this audit is important Who and what we However, DoT’s assertion that its 40 separate plans and strategies Transport Integration Act 2010 examined The presently meet the Act's integrated (the Act) requires DoT to prepare We examined whether DoT: transport plan requirements does and periodically revise the transport • not withstand scrutiny. plan for Victoria. meets the Act's requirements for the transport plan The absence of a transport plan The Act seeks integrated planning • is integrating its transport as required by the Act, during and management of the many planning. a decade of unprecedented transport modes, networks and investment in transport services that make up the state's What we concluded infrastructure, creates risks of transport system, so they best meet DoT and its predecessors have not, missed opportunities to sequence user needs. over the past decade, demonstrably and optimise the benefits of these integrated transport planning and investments to best meet Victoria's are yet to meet the Act’s transport needs. requirements for the transport plan. Since DoT’s establishment in 2019 though, it is evidently committed to realising these aims, and is making steady progress towards them. Key facts Source: VAGO from DoT information. 1 | Integrated Transport Planning | Victorian Auditor-General´s Report What we found and recommend We consulted with DoT and considered its views when reaching our conclusions. DoT's full response is in Appendix A. Victoria's Integrated Transport Plan Compliance with the Transport Integration Act 2010 The Act requires DoT to prepare and periodically revise the transport plan for Victoria. It specifies mandatory content and considerations for this plan, as Figure A sets out. Legislative requirements of the transport plan Transport plan requirements specified in section 63 of the Act Sets the planning framework for transport bodies to operate in Sets out the strategic policy context for transport Includes medium- or long-term strategic directions or actions Prepared with regard to the Act’s vision statement, transport system objectives and decision-making principles Prepared with regard to national transport and infrastructure priorities Demonstrates an integrated approach to transport and land-use planning Identifies the challenges the transport plan seeks to address Includes a regularly updated short-term action plan Source: VAGO from the Act. DoT asserted to Parliament and to VAGO that it meets the Act's requirements through multiple plans and strategies taken together, rather than in a single transport An integrated transport system provides users with convenient plan. In advice to the Parliament's Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) access to timely, efficient services in June 2019, DoT listed 11 published documents as evidence of its integrated that are coordinated and linked within and across transport modes transport planning work, and as part of the transport plan required by the Act. for seamless and reliable end-to-end journeys. 2 | Integrated Transport Planning | Victorian Auditor-General´s Report We assessed these 11 published documents and a further 21 documents that DoT identifies as part of the transport plan against the specific requirements of section 63 of the Act. The documents we assessed comprise: • two broad whole-of-government plans relevant for transport: Plan Melbourne, Metropolitan Planning Strategy (2017) and the Victorian Infrastructure Plan (2017) • 18 plans for specific transport modes including train, tram, bus, road and cycling • nine location-specific plans covering regional Victoria and two of six metropolitan Melbourne sub-regions • three miscellaneous plans and strategies. We could not assess more than 10 other plans and strategies DoT identifies as part of the transport plan as it is yet to finalise them. The documents DoT identifies as comprising the transport plan do not fully meet legislative requirements. This collection of documents does not provide a coherent and comprehensive transport plan because: • the plans have been developed over a nine-year period and do not explain or demonstrate how they are part of a collection of documents that form the transport plan as required by the Act, or how they are related to, link with, or build on other plans • the collection is yet to include completed plans that address all areas of Victoria and all transport modes • modal plans were largely developed before, rather than after, area-based plans, which runs counter to integrated planning principles and is inconsistent with A modal plan is a plan for a particular mode of transport, while national transport planning guidance an area-based plan should • individual plans are highly varied in detail and focus, ranging from high-level consider all modes of transport in a certain area. strategies to single-mode or location-based plans and policy documents communicating initiatives underway or committed