Melbourne at peak of congestion

Thought you were driving slow? It’s not in your head, Melbourne is officially Australia’s most gridlocked city. One popular route is so bad the average morning speed is just 37km/h.

Melbourne has once again topped the nation for traffic congestion, with a new report showing the city’s motorists are crawling through peak hour.

Journey time data collected by the Australian Automobile Association shows gridlocked Melburnians travel further below the speed limit than any other part of the country.

It comes just days after the Herald Sun revealed Melbourne’s outer suburbs have been hit hard by the state’s growing traffic crunch.

Since 2013, the average speed for motorists plummeted faster than any other capital city and now sits at 63.5km/h.

Congestion continues to clog Melbourne’s streets. Picture: Sarah Matray

The study also found that Melbourne had the worst congestion in Australia when considering speed limits across the road network.

RACV’s manager of public policy, Bryce Prosser, said the data was further evidence that Victoria needed a comprehensive transport plan.

“Without decisive action, Melbourne’s congestion, which is already chronic, will only get worse and commuters will spend even more time in traffic,” he said.

“Now is the time to start talking about how to get all Melburnians moving, whether they drive, take public transport, ride a bike or walk.”

Data collected from car trips at the end of last year shows it now takes 3.3 additional minutes to travel from the city to Melbourne Airport compared to five years ago.

Speeds along the busy route recorded the biggest fall of any other airport route in the Australia.

Trips along roads between Kew and Parkville also slowed to a crawl and the average speed of cars moving along this corridor during the morning peak is now just 37km/h.

Australian Automobile Association chief executive Michael Bradley said traffic congestion was harmful to quality of life.

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“Business costs rise and productivity declines when workers and goods are stuck

in traffic,” he said.

“These costs end up being passed on to consumers, feeding into our rising cost of living.

“Billions of dollars have been invested in trying to improve congestion, but relief

has been modest. In fact, congestion continues to worsen in some cities.”

The cost of congestion on the Australian is expected to soar as high as $41.2 billion by 2030.

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