Three in four Melburnians flag concerns over traffic congestion, rate gridlock worse than Sydneysiders

New research has revealed how Melburnians and Sydneysiders rate traffic congestion in their cities, and one set of residents is far more concerned about their spate of gridlocked roads than the other.

Melburnians are more concerned about the rising level of traffic congestion than their counterparts in Sydney, research has found.

Melbourne overtook Sydney as the nation’s most populous city last year, and the burden placed on the road network has since skyrocketed.

Commuters have taken note, with 72 per cent of Melburnians saying they were worried about the current level of gridlock.

In comparison, only 62 per cent of Sydneysiders shared the same concerns.

Nearly three in four Melburnians say they are worried about traffic congestion on the city’s roads.

The latest Urban Mobility Trends research, commissioned by Transurban, says commuters in Victoria aren’t hopeful about the future either.

More than 80 per cent of respondents said they were worried congestion would get worse throughout the next decade.

Despite this, most Melburnians still use their private vehicle to travel around the city or to get into work.

With commuters so concerned about the bumper to bumper traffic, Transurban has floated a new feature on their Linkt app that provides users with up to date travel time saving estimates.

In September alone, Linkt users collectively saved approximately 1.55 million hours by taking toll roads.

Despite most having concerns about congestion on Melbourne’s roads, the majority of Melburnians still use their private care to travel around the city. Picture: David Crosling

Transurban customer experience general manager Chris Jackson said that with so many commuters worried about traffic congestion, having the ability to track estimated time saved each month was a huge bonus.

“We want to help people understand how these routes can really impact their day-to-day

lives, giving them back time that would otherwise have been spent in traffic,” Mr

Jackson said.

“In the past 12 months, we’ve expanded our Linkt Rewards program, which provides access to a growing range of offers and has delivered millions of dollars’ worth of benefits including discounted fuel to members,” he added.

It comes after Transurban offered Linkt customers a monthly saving on fuel up to 12c a litre as part of their loyalty program.

Motorists have been encouraged to make the most of fuel price apps to find the best offers, with some suburbs offering drastically different prices per litre than others.

Originally published as Three in four Melburnians flag concerns over traffic congestion, rate gridlock worse than Sydneysiders