Transport in Australia

There are many forms of transport in Australia. Australia is highly dependent on road transport. There are more than 300 airports with paved runways. Passenger rail transport includes widespread commuter networks in the major capital cities with more limited intercity and interstate networks. The Australian mining sector is reliant upon rail to transport its product to Australia's ports for export. Road transport in Australia Road transport is an essential element of the Australian transport network, and an enabler of the Australian economy. There is a heavy reliance on road transport due to Australia's large area and low population density in considerable parts of the country. Australia's road network experiences excessive demand during peak periods and very weak demand overnight. Another reason for the reliance upon roads is that the Australian rail network has not been sufficiently developed for a lot of the freight and passenger requirements in most areas of Australia. This has meant that goods that would otherwise be transported by rail are moved across Australia via road trains. Almost every household owns at least one car, and uses it most days. There are three different categories of Australian roads. They are federal highways, state highways and local roads. The road network comprises a total of 913,000 km broken down into: paved: 353,331 km (including 3,132 km of expressways) unpaved: 559,669 km (1996 estimate) Victoria has the largest network, with thousands of arterial (major, primary and secondary) roads to add. The majority of road tunnels in Australia have been constructed since the 1990s to relieve traffic congestion in metropolitan areas, or to cross significant watercourses. Australia has the second-highest level of car ownership in the world. It has three to four times more road per capita than Europe and seven to nine times more than Asia. Australia also has the third-highest per capita rate of fuel consumption in the world.