To ensure clarity, TCL cannot raise tolls at their leisure (with...

To ensure clarity, TCL cannot raise tolls at their leisure (with a small number of exceptions). TCL's tolls are predominantly tied to inflation. This is an effective mechanism for compensating Transurban and its customers for the rise in costs. Inflation figures are closely related to interest rates and so there is an effective, albeit indirect, mechanism for compensating TCL for changes in the interest rate.

Cash flow is tied principally to traffic volume. Traffic volume depends predominantly on the value proposition that exist for drivers. That value proposition includes the driver's income, the amount of the toll and other costs associated with driving.

My concern is that the cost of driving is likely to increase significantly in the future. Congestion is a major issue in many cities around the world, which is largely the result of single occupancy vehicles. To protect economies and the mental and physical health of their citizens, Governments are likely to introduce legislation to combat congestion, with single occupancy vehicle use representing an obvious and natural target for a "first strike". Technological advances are likely to soon enable the automatic identification and taxing of single occupancy vehicles on congested roads.