Interesting Is Mise, & I can see the point. That should save a lot of travel time, although perhaps causing an increase in anxiety, that boredom may allow your speed to climb unintentionally, making you likely to be photographed for revenue collection.

I wonder if all this progress would allow me to do the run from Bankstown to Sandown in the 8 hours it took in the mid 60s, with 1.4 ton of trailer on the back of the old Chrysler Royal.

All these great new roads, & we crawl along them like so many ants.

I wonder how long it will be before we are back to following a man with a red flag.

.....Bypassing all the towns on our highways should be a job creating priority.

Yes Is Mise, only the jobs you refer to would most likely only be FIFO workers, or 457 holders, if the past few years is anything to go by and, once the bypass is completed, nothing will replace the local jobs lost in the process.

So, like most things, there needs to be balance, that's why I suggest a small toll, with the proceeds going to the effected communities.

A toll of just 10 cents, collected on say 300,000 traffic movements per day on a busy highway would raise in excess of ten million for shires.

Your small toll would be the thin edge of the wedge as successive Governments increased it to raise just a little more revenue.

We don't need or want toll roads, we have enough already.

Sorry, but in this case I disagree Is Mise, because unlike other tolls, this is not in lue of paying for the infrastructure, rather, it's more of a levy to support local bypassed towns and, there's no need for increases as such, as increased traffic movements will take care of that.

We must also remember that my suggestion of the small toll is one of compromise.

I notice that the NSW government is showing some concern that drivers
may tend to avoid the yet to be built Westconnectx.
I recently worked out that a commuter driving from Seven Hills to Mascot
in a smallish car, taking service into account would spend $325 a week
in after tax money, if he used motorways all the way.

That is a big incentive to get out of bed 15 minutes earlier.
Did you hear Dick Smith and another on National Press club on growth today.
Hmmm I am not on my own.

rehctub,

How much would a small toll add up to for tho Hume between Sydney and Melbourne, a toll that would satisfy all the towns passed in the 800+ kilometre length?

If businesses depend on the highway traffic then they will need to diversify, there is no reason why others should pay for their future well being.
Times have changed and there is no real reason why our towns still need to be the distance apart that a horse could reasonably travel in one day; that's one of the reasons that some towns are shrinking and that others have disappeared and are now but locality names.