RTA abolished along with three other agencies as part of structural reshape of NSW bureaucracy that includes dedicated freight division
July 18, 2011
The Roads and Traffic Authority name will soon be no more, with the NSW Government announcing a structural reshape of the state’s transport bureaucracy that includes a dedicated freight division.
The RTA name will be superseded by the Roads and Maritime Services. Roads Minister Duncan Gay says it will be responsible for building and maintaining roads, conducting driving tests, issuing licences and registration and overseeing harbours and waterways.
The government has also announced NSW Maritime, the Transport Construction Authority and the Country Rail Infrastructure Authority will all be abolished and their roles funnelled into a super bureaucracy known as Transport for NSW.
Gay says Roads and Maritime Services will focus on frontline services, with Transport for NSW looking after strategy and policy.
A new division will be set up within the department dedicated to freight and regional development. Gay says key freight components of road, rail, marine, ports and intermodal terminals will be consolidated to give industry a single point of contact.
“Twelve weeks ago, when we announced the start of this process, I said the RTA would not be the same organisation and today’s announcement bears that out – in fact, there is no longer an RTA,” Gay says.
“What we will have in its place is a streamlined, customer-focused organisation to deliver essential frontline services to the people who use our roads, our harbours and our waterways.”
The freight division is one of six to be created under Transport for NSW. Legislation is due to be introduced during the next parliamentary sitting to create divisions focused on customer service, planning and programs, transport services, transport projects and policy and regulation.
The government is currently finalising appointments for six new deputy directors-general to oversee each of the divisions.
It says policy and planning experts from all transport agencies will work together in the one location, cutting duplication and ending a silo approach to transport in the state.
Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian says Transport for NSW will take on the infrastructure-building responsibilities of the Transport Construction Authority and the Country Rail Infrastructure Authority.
“Transport for NSW will take charge of major procurement and long-term planning and policy, meaning for the first time we will see a coordinated and holistic approach to public transport – from simple things like ensuring bus and train timetables provide seamless connections for customers through to the delivery of integrated plans and major multi-modal projects,” she says.