Qld traffic: Number of vehicles on roads passes four million

The number of vehicles on Queensland roads has passed a major milestone, and the rate of increase over the past few years is a wake-up call for our infrastructure planners.

QUEENSLAND’S busy roads are now filled with more than four million vehicles, after almost half a million were added in just the past five years.

New figures reveal Queensland has had the second-biggest increase in vehicle numbers in the past year – behind Tasmania, and equal to Victoria – jumping 2.2 per cent to 4.134 million as of January.

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It follows an 11.5 per cent surge in vehicles since 2014, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest motor vehicle census revealing a staggering 428,000 have been added to the roads over the five-year period.

Queensland’s population is just over five million.

In the 12 months to January, the number of registered passenger vehicles in Queensland increased by 1.4 per cent to 2.878 million, while the number of heavy trucks went up by 1.8 per cent to 75,555 vehicles.

Another 113 buses were also added to the road network in 2018 as well as another 3,153 motorcycles, taking the total number to 207,587 motorbikes, the second most in the country behind NSW.

One of the biggest increases was in campervans, with a 5 per cent jump to 17,444 vehicles.

RACQ head of public policy Rebecca Michael said the growing figures showed why it was important that Queensland’s transport network was safe and efficient.

“We’ve seen high levels of growth right across Queensland, so it’s no surprise the number of vehicles on our roads is also on the rise,” she said.

“With car manufacturers overseas now starting to offer drivers an option to pay monthly subscriptions to access a range of vehicles instead of owning their own, we’re interested to see how Queenslanders will take up these types of initiatives when they become available here.”

Dr Michael said a better public transport system would also help ease congestion and reduce travel times.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said it was not up to the Government to tell people how they should travel.

“It’s up to (the Government) to give them as many viable choices as possible for travel,” he said.

“We’ve delivered four record infrastructure budgets in a row for Queensland, including this year’s jointly funded $23 billion program over four years for roads and transport.

“Every corner of southeast Queensland has a major road upgrade under way right now.”