A、It is run by the government of New South Wales. B、It has an annual budget of $60 million. C、It is designed to benefit coastal

W: Welcome to our show. Have you heard the saying that driving is the most dangerous thing that most of us will do in our lives? So what can be done to make it safer? I think we all know an intersection or a stretch of road that is dangerous and needs to be fixed. Well, there’s some federal money available through the Black Spot funding program. (1) Jamie Briggs is an MP; he’s also the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development. Welcome, Jamie.
M: Thanks. New South Wales has appointed John Cobb as the chair of the Black Spot consultative panel, and many of your listeners know John is a very experienced parliamentarian. (2) And, John knows transport needs very well in New South Wales, and he brings a level of experience to the Black Spot committee, which will ensure we get the best value of money that we want, but also improve our productive capacity on important metro but also, importantly, regional roads.
W: Today we’re broadcasting not just to the Riverina, but to the southwest and the southeast of the state. People in the regions will know these roads, and know that there are issues with some of them, what can they do if there’s a bad stretch of road? The council knows about it, but what can they do?
M: (3) Well, look, in respect to this program, the Federal Government runs the Black Spot Program. It’s a $60 million program a year, spread across the states. Obviously, New South Wales gets a good share of that. (4) What people can do with their local government particularly is to identify black spots which have had a crash history, where there have been incidents over the last two or three years. They can identify those black spots to the committee, they don’t need all that much information, and they can fill it out themselves. The local government body is the best way to move to get the best outcome, and then the committee will make the considerations, what are the best value projects. Projects can be up to $ 2 million in federal contribution. The state and local government can put in more, of course. Black spots usually mean that we’re not getting the best value, particularly in regional areas, that we can get from the roads. So this program can really make a big difference in that respect.
W: And the funding was specifically set up, but if there was an intersection or a stretch of road, with a crash history, it would be addressed?
M: (5) Well, that’s right, and it was a funding program set up initially by the Howard Government, and has continued since that time, and it’s got a great track record. It’s got a terrific economic outcome, economic history, and it’s also got a really important contribution to our safety performance of many of our metro and regional roads. And many of your listeners will know well that there are many local roads which carry heavy amounts of freight, and make contributions to our economic development... which are unsafe at times. And, as economic activity increases in our region, we need to fix those to ensure we get the best value.
This is the end of Part One of the interview. Questions 1 to 5 are based on what you have just heard.
1. Who is Jamie Briggs?
2. According to the interview, what can we know about John Cobb?
3. Which of the following statements about the Black Spot Program is CORRECT?
4. How do people in New South Wales join in the Black Spot Program?
5. How is the performance record of the Black Spot Program?