Transurban tollways recovering from COVID

Transurban says there are signs motorists will quickly return to toll roads in Sydney and Melbourne after coronavirus rules stymied first-quarter traffic.

In the first week of eased restrictions this month, the company's Sydney toll roads had the most traffic since late June.

Traffic in the first week of freedom was down by 11 per cent on 2019 levels, a substantial improvement on the week before when traffic was down 31 per cent by the same comparison.

People in Sydney and Melbourne have endured lengthy lockdowns which have limited travel.

Traffic on those Sydney roads, which include the Hills M2 and Cross City Tunnel, dropped 43.7 per cent in the past quarter compared to the same three-month period last year.

In Melbourne, traffic improved by 30.7 per cent on the same quarter last year. However, this level of traffic was significantly lower than that of the March and June quarters.

Transurban is still to begin tunnelling for the West Gate Tunnel due to disputes about waste disposal and other matters with contactors.

Company leaders say the differences may need to be resolved in the courts.

Traffic in Brisbane, where people had two short lockdowns, improved by 4.6 per cent.

At the annual general meeting on Thursday, shareholders gave the Transurban board a `first strike' over executive pay.

A strike is recorded when at least 25 per cent of shareholders vote against a pay report. This applies to all companies as part of the Corporations Act.

A second strike can lead to all board members having to stand for election again.

Shares on the ASX closed lower by 1.3 per cent to $13.62.