Congestion levy, higher parking tax to ease Melbourne traffic nightmare: Grattan Institute

EXCLUSIVE: MELBOURNE’S traffic congestion is now worse than Sydney’s and one group has come up with radical ideas to ease the pain.

AN inner-city congestion charge and increased CBD parking taxes are part of a proposed shake-up to ease Melbourne’s congested traffic network.

The Grattan Institute report also called for a revamp of the public transport system to encourage more passengers onto off-peak travel with reduced fares.

The city’s traffic was now worse than Sydney’s, with Melbourne’s typical morning commute being a 25-minute drive that is delayed by an average 18 minutes.

EDITORIAL: OUR CONGESTION TOPS SYDNEY

HODDLE ST TO BECOME CLEARWAY

VICTORIA’S RECORD ROAD CONGESTION

MOTORISTS COULD SPEND EXTRA HOUR COMMUTING TO WORK BY 2030

Peak morning traffic on the Eastern Freeway. Picture: Ian Currie

The city’s ground zero for commuters was Hoddle St, from the Eastern Freeway to Bridge Rd.

The comprehensive study scrutinised Google Maps data of 350 routes, with readings taken 25 times a day for six months this year.

The analysis by the Melbourne think tank also showed:

THE worst inner-city routes were Hoddle St, Punt Rd, Church St (Richmond) and Victoria Pde;

WORKERS driving in from the northeast faced the longest peak-hour delays;

MELBURNIANS’ love of their cars remains undiminished, shunning public transport and lured by parking that is more plentiful and cheaper than in Sydney; and

AS Melbourne became more developed, space for building more roads was limited.

The report did not recommend a “congestion-busting” road-building program or staggered school starting times.

“More sophisticated solutions are now required,’’ lead author Marion Terrill said.

Instead, the report called for a London-style congestion charge for cars within 12 months, with the revenue subsidising vehicle registration discounts and transport improvements.

MARION TERRILL: MELBOURNE’S TRAFFIC IS ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU SNARL

Hoddle St at peak hour.

The levy should be a modest charge, perhaps reduced to nothing during off-peak, the report said.

The institute also urged the Victorian government to increase Melbourne’s annual CBD parking space levy from $1380 to about $2400 to match Sydney.

It said the increase would be easy to implement and have little administration cost. The report also said limiting on-street parking or banning right turns could also increase traffic flow.

The institute also called for cheaper off-peak fares on public transport to reduce the peak-hour crush.

Commuters’ journeys are now free if completed before 7.15am on weekdays.

How traffic changes across Melbourne.

Ms Terrill said Melbourne’s congestion had three main causes — the economic dominance of the CBD, the attractiveness of parking in the city, and the pricing structure of toll roads.

Despite the planed Metro rail tunnel with five new stations, road travel is expected to continue to grow about 1.3 per cent a year.

“Trips to Melbourne’s CBD from the suburbs in our sample take, on average, around 25 minutes when there is no traffic. These trips are delayed by around 18 minutes (or 80 per cent) during the morning peak,’’ Ms Terrill said.

Delays to other employment centres such as Clayton, Dandenong, Box Hill or the La Trobe University precinct were much shorter.

Hoddle St and Punt Rd are becoming 24-hour clearways in a bid to free up congestion. As many as 130,000 people travel on Hoddle St every day.

VicRoads is also working on improving the intersections where Hoddle St meets the Eastern Freeway and Johnston St. Changes are also coming for the Punt Rd intersections at Brunton Avenue and Swan St.

Victorian Federal MP Michael Sukkar: “It comes as no surprise that congestion on Melbourne’s roads is getting dramatically worse under Daniel Andrews’ leadership.”

“Let’s not forget his government ripped $1.2 billion from taxpayers’ pockets to scrap the East West Link — the most important project to free up traffic bottlenecks across Melbourne”.

Other travel times

From	To	No traffic (min)	Morning peak (min)
Point Cook	Glen Waverley	41	64
Glen Waverley	Point Cook	39	55
Cranbourne North	Berwick	8	14
Berwick	Cranbourne North	9	11
Richmond	Footscray	19	28
Dandenong	Melbourne Airport	47	66
Melbourne Airport	Dandenong	45	61
Northern Hospital Epping	Hawthorn	33	54
Seaford	Richmond	34	52
Dandenong	West Melbourne Port	33	51
Bacchus Marsh	West Melbourne Port	41	51

GRIDLOCK PAIN IN NORTHEAST

COMMUTERS from Melbourne’s northeast face the longest peak-hour delays, due to gridlock on the Eastern Freeway and Hoddle St.

Drivers from suburbs such as Kew, Doncaster and Heidelberg endure the worst delays, even compared to users of the Tullamarine, Westgate and Monash freeways, the Grattan Institute study into traffic congestion found.

Motorists from the northeast suburbs who get caught in the worst 15 minutes of the morning bottleneck can expect their commute to take up to twice as long as it does without traffic.

Katherine Beards, who drives to the city everyday, will be slugged with a carpark tax. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Lead author Marion Terrill said the variability in travel times throws workers’ plans into chaos. “A commuter who does this commute regularly also knows in any given week, on one day it may take 29 minutes, and another day 44 minutes. And once a month it takes 48 minutes.’’

“The Eastern Freeway/Hoddle St corridor has not only some of Melbourne’s worst delays, but also some of the city’s least reliable travel times.’’

The lack of a rail line on the Eastern Freeway corridor has exacerbated congestion, especially for those travelling into the CBD, which remains the city’s jobs focal point.

Warrandyte woman Sarah drives into work five days a week and isn’t too concerned with Melbourne’s traffic woes.

“I actually enjoy driving into work. It allows me to make calls, organise myself and ensure I get there safely,” she said.

“I don’t live near a train station so driving in makes the commute easier”.

CBD commuters from Cranbourne also face big variations in travel times. Their unreliable journey can take between 50 and 70 minutes.

On any work day, about 150,000 workers commute into central Melbourne, almost a third of them by car.

Accidents, incidents and rain are often blamed for worse-than-usual traffic across the metropolitan network, but the data showed it had limited impact.

Motorists’ traffic headaches come despite Melbourne’s expansive public transport system, with more than 830km of rail and the world’s biggest tram network.

“And yet commuting by car to the CBD increased in Melbourne between 2006 and 2011, while it fell in Sydney,” the report said.

“The relative attractiveness of driving in Melbourne appears to be caused by two factors — cheap and plentiful parking and unattractive public transport.’’

@IanRoyall