Controlling | Route
Authority. Mileage,

Cost of
Jonstruetion
and Fquipment.


Government ...
Municipal sve
Private ... es

_l1les.
131-1
168-7
45-4

x
9,084,635
5.902,019
865.176

Total ... |

645-92

25.851.830

Motor Vehicles.

Motor Vehicles
Registered.

Year ended
30th June.

Number.

Per 1,000 of
Povulation.

921... wen
922... ve
923... -_
924 o
925... von
926... ni
1927  ... veo |
928... es

(17,163 21
39,090 25
75,170 31
241,869 12
305,639 52
390,300 65
196,367 «+ 80
65113 90

Roads.

32. The importance of the road
transport system of Australia is so
apparent, and is so fully recognized,
that we are only dealing with it and the
associated subjects of motor and tramway
 services in order to give a true
perspective in connection with the sugzestions
 which we subsequently make
in regard to co-ordination of various
transport services.
33. Expenditure on roads is rightly
regarded as the first necessity of development,
 and as we have already indicated
 in dealing with the subject of
railways the latter should only be built
if and when road transport is proved
lo be impracticable or uneconomical.
The Committee on Mechanical Transoort
 of the Development and Migration
 Commission, in a report dated
2nd March, 1928, dealt with the estimated
 cost of mechanical road transport
 compared with branch railway
operations, and submitted recommenlations
 suggesting that ‘¢ apart from

‘he advantage of deferring capital expenditure
 upon prospective non-paying
oranch railways, mechanical road
sransport could be economically used
‘or new developmental areas until
settlement and production have been
sarried to a stage which would enable
2 branch railway line to be constructed
and operated without loss.”
34. The Commonwealth Road Board
and the State and other road boards
are, so far as we are able to judge,
officiently dealing with the question of
making, improvement and maintenance
 of the main roads, and, apart
from the method of applying the Comnonwealth
 Road Board grant to the
States, to which we draw attention
selow (instancing the special case of
Tasmania), we have no suggestions to
offer. It is, of course, impracticable
within a short space of time and without
 undue capital expenditure to put
even the main roads of the vast territory
 of Australia into a wholly satisfactory
 condition, but energetic action
is taking place in that direction, and
a considerable distance outside each
of the cities is now satisfactorily served
by roads of a high character. The
whole question of providing satisfac
tory ‘‘ country ”’ roads is more diffiult
 of solution. The construction and
naintenance ‘of the roads in less populous
 areas, out of funds provided by
rates levied on the inhabitants of the
ocality, means that, unless the inlustries
 carried on in that area are to
se adversely affected by a heavy burlen
 of rates, the progress in improvng
 the undoubtedly bad roads in such
areas must necessarily be slow. It
8 a question of patient effort,
Although, given good bridges, roads of
v sort are easy to make and maintain
n most parts of the back country.
85. We have one suggestion to offer
a regard to main roads, namely, that
wy sums made available for transport
»urposes from the Commonwealth
‘evenue should he freely placed at the
lisposal of the States for the purposes
f transport in general. The paricular
 case of Tasmania illustrates
his point. The Road Maintenance
Board there has an inadequate revenue
of £35,000 per year from the motor
bax, plus £20.000 from the municipal