Melbourne’s traffic congestion is worse than Sydney, researcher finds

EVERYONE loves a great big whinge about the traffic. But maybe we’re not as entitled to it as we think.

SYDNEY has long had a bad reputation for traffic congestion but a researcher has debunked the myth it is the most clogged city in the country.

Grattan Institute Traffic Program Director Marion Terrill discovered Melburnians are the ones crawling along highways in a slow gear trying to get themselves from A to B.

Using Google Maps, Ms Terrill looked at 300 separate driving routes in both Melbourne and Sydney, including freight paths and roads to the CBD and airport. Through her research, Ms Terrill was able to debunk a number of traffic myths.

SYDNEY TRAFFIC IS WORSE THAN MELBOURNE

Myth. Sorry Melburnians, your traffic congestion is worse, despite your city having almost half a million less people living there. To the Melburnians who tried to calm themselves down in traffic by thinking ‘at least I don’t live in Sydney’, Sydney is sorry.

The roads in Melbourne are completely chocker block, especially if you’re headed into to CBD from Melbourne’s north east, suburbs including Heidelberg West, Epping and South Morang.

Ms Terrill found it takes commuters half as long to get to the city from the north east during peak hour. While the north east is the bane of Melbourne roads, there isn’t really one particular route in Sydney that has traffic quite as bad.

In Melbourne, a trip to the CBD in peak hour will take a commuter 70 per cent longer than it does in free flowing traffic while in Sydney it takes about 60 per cent longer.

Graph shows Melbourne traffic is worse than Sydney. Picture: Grattan Institute

THE AFTERNOON PEAK ISN’T AS BAD AS THE MORNING

It’s worse. If you’re going to get stuck in any type of peak traffic, the afternoon is not what you want. Ms Terrill said the afternoon peak was about 55 per cent longer than the drive during free flow traffic in both Sydney and Melbourne, and it lasted longer.

“There’s no such thing as peak hour in the afternoon. It is any time between 3.30pm and 6pm,” she said.

She believed the longer peak was due to people leaving work at different times either to pick their children up from school or hurry to an appointment.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT WILL FIX THE PROBLEM

It won’t. Ms Terrill said people had that perception, but it was not the solution for traffic congestion.

“I think people do have the view that if you put in a lot of public transport you will solve traffic congestion,” she told news.com.au

“It’s definitely part of the solution but the majority of people travel in Sydney and Melbourne by cars. Eight out of every 10 kilometres that people travel is by car.

“Even though public transport is important, that’s just part of the story.”

Public transport is not the answer to fixing traffic congestion.

FREEWAYS RELIEVE CONGESTION

They don’t. Ms Terrill said roads alone would not do much for clogged cities.

“Sydney and Melbourne have both had rapid population growth, particular Melbourne,” she said.

“It is tempting to believe that if you just build enough roads you will solve congestion, that is not the case.

“You can’t build your way out of congestion. At some point you have to start rationing the road space. At the moment we do it by people spending a lot of time getting around. That’s why sometimes people raise the possibility of a congestion charge. Instead of people managing congestion using their time, it would be a financial approach.”

Congestion pricing will charge commuters a surcharge to use congested roads during peak times.

DRIVERS AVOIDING THE CBD WON’T BE TRAPPED IN TRAFFIC

Wrong. Ms Terrill’s research found even those who tried to drive around the CBD could still be impacted by traffic congestion in the city. In Sydney for example, those using freeways to drive around the city on the way to Macquarie Park, in the city’s north, will still get caught in traffic.

They travel about 60 per cent slower in peak hour than in free flowing traffic.

Rush hour traffic gridlock on busy Sydney main road.

ELIMINATING CONGESTION IS WHAT WE WANT

No it’s not. While traffic is frustrating, Ms Terrill said a city doesn’t want there to be no congestion.

“Congestion happens when a lot of people want to be in a certain place and it adds to the vibrancy of the city,” she said.

“If the city has a lot of empty roads, then they’ve built too many or nobody is going out working or enjoying their leisure time.

“You don’t want no congestion, it’s good to have a level of congestion that doesn’t prevent people from moving around and taking advantage of the great things the cities have to offer.

“We need to find a liveable balance between vibrancy and people getting frustrated by endless gridlock.”