Millions of Australians face the daily frustration of delayed commutes, particularly on busy motorways. But as governments spend billions continually upgrading roads, experts say that might not be the best solution.
Tackling congestion is something that should be done, it is a huge drag on productivity as well as quality of life. The challenge as I see it is the tough decisions that would need to be made and the political capital that it would cost the decision makers - as such I don’t see any Australia govt and any level doing much to fix the problem for decades still.
As I see it there are a several main setting changes that need to happen to contribute to the overall goal.
Reduce demand - Decentralise cities, give people the right to WFH, develop 15 minute towns/villages, satellite CBDs, regional hubs etc.
Incentivise other modes of transport - create more comprehensive public transport networks and make it free, tax incentives for active travel (purchase personal mobility devices with pre tax income, interest free loans etc), increase shared user path construction, reduce speed limits, build sensible regulations around personal E-Mobility devices, develop last mile logistics that utilise E Cargo bikes and other alternatives to large vehicles in CBDs &town centres etc.
Disincentivise single occupier personal vehicle use (this is the hardest one!) - introduce CBD/inner ring time of day and/or congestion charges, variable peak hour commuter toll charging, KM travelled based charging for vehicle use, or similar, create slow streets and other car hostile town planning.
It is impossible to stop people driving cars, but COVID certainly showed that making changes to how people work and incentives/disincentives to traveling can have a large impact.
I acknowledge that many people will still need and want to drive personal vehicles, I I bet by pulling all these levers together then it would significantly change the way people move around Australian cities.
Don’t forget schools. On 11% of primary school kids take the bus to school. It’s a little better for high school but still nowhere near where it should be.
Back during COVID lockdowns reintroduction of school in my area saw the local streets go from basically empty to back to 80% load, all be it only for the one hour of drop off in the morning, and maybe 60% in the afternoon pick up.
It was striking how so much of my local traffic was people driving kids a few hundred meters to school (I live in a very school dense area).
Tackling congestion is something that should be done, it is a huge drag on productivity as well as quality of life. The challenge as I see it is the tough decisions that would need to be made and the political capital that it would cost the decision makers - as such I don’t see any Australia govt and any level doing much to fix the problem for decades still.
As I see it there are a several main setting changes that need to happen to contribute to the overall goal.
It is impossible to stop people driving cars, but COVID certainly showed that making changes to how people work and incentives/disincentives to traveling can have a large impact.
I acknowledge that many people will still need and want to drive personal vehicles, I I bet by pulling all these levers together then it would significantly change the way people move around Australian cities.
Don’t forget schools. On 11% of primary school kids take the bus to school. It’s a little better for high school but still nowhere near where it should be.
That’s a great point that I forgot about.
Back during COVID lockdowns reintroduction of school in my area saw the local streets go from basically empty to back to 80% load, all be it only for the one hour of drop off in the morning, and maybe 60% in the afternoon pick up.
It was striking how so much of my local traffic was people driving kids a few hundred meters to school (I live in a very school dense area).