Leaders need to take reins to finds solutions to congested city streets

STRIKING the right balance between progress and lifestyle is possibly the biggest issue facing Hobart right now. And that’s because with our population ballooning, the planning required to ensure our services keep pace has so far been lacking.

STRIKING the right balance between progress and lifestyle is possibly the biggest issue facing Hobart right now. And that’s because with our population ballooning, the planning required to ensure our services keep pace has so far been lacking.

Not only are we experiencing a rental crisis — with, as we revealed on Saturday, working families being forced to live in tents — but we now have real traffic problems and a hospital that struggles to treat the emergency cases coming its way.

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We have known for some time that things have been getting worse on our capital city’s roads — not only anecdotally but also with studies such as one by navigation systems operator TomTom in December concluding that traffic congestion in Hobart is now the third worst in the country, at least when you make a comparison between peak travel time and free-flow periods. But the traffic issues came to a dramatic head on Wednesday afternoon, as a combination of more cars on the road, roadworks, and wet weather causing crashes led to the worst congestion experienced in Hobart at anytime in recent years.

According to the RACT, Hobart’s roads have now reached capacity and — just like the rental crisis — urgent short-term measures must be enacted now to deliver some relief as longer-term solutions are planned and implemented. The Mercury agrees with the RACT that authorities should move now to implement traffic light synchronisation and other measures such as the imposition of clearways.

We also believe that better public transport options might help. Only 5 per cent of people in Greater Hobart currently travel to work via public transport, and so it’s always going to be a hard sell. That doesn’t mean, however, that we shouldn’t do all we can to make public transport more attractive.

As we have said before in this column, Metro deserves full credit for offering free travel to bus passengers who travel before 7am until February 23. It’s a great way of attracting riders who can start work earlier during what is usually a busy back-to-school period. It’s a deal that should be offered year-round.

Because the reality is it actually wouldn’t take much to ease our traffic woes, as bad as they appear to be. The Department of State Growth has estimated we would only need to reduce the number of vehicles on our major roads by 6-7 per cent to enjoy school holiday-style traffic levels every weekday.

But these public transport solutions do ignore our car culture — a culture that is likely to endure unless more radical steps are taken. For one, it is far too easy and cheap to park in central Hobart. Again, as we have said before, perhaps once we have more reliable, frequent and varied public transport options from the suburbs — including ferries and light rail — we should also rip some of those carparks up and build apartments on them? It’s just an idea, but one that could see us address the housing crisis that is bedevilling our capital city at the same time as reducing our traffic problems.

Fixing our traffic congestion issues won’t be easy. But that is why we elect our leaders — to make bold decisions that benefit us all, and respond calmly and decisively when faced with a crisis.

Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by The Editor, Chris Jones, Level 1, 2 Salamanca Square, Hobart, TAS, 7000