Federal and state governments says they will fix the traffic congestion that costs NSW billions of dollars a year – and this time they mean it. No, really...
By Ian Gerrard
The rear-panel advertisement on a fleet of Sydney buses reads: ‘Like traffic that moves? Move to Canberra.’ Billboards at some major Sydney train stations are even smugger. ‘You’d be home by now if you lived in Adelaide,’ they proclaim, causing NSW Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal to spit the dummy.
“Anyone that… has been to Adelaide knows it is a pretty boring place, and it just can’t compare to Sydney,” Roozendaal told reporters in May, adding that, “Canberra is even more boring…”
Minister Roozendaal is unlikely to score a diplomatic posting, but his frustration is understandable given that he has probably the toughest portfolio in state politics. “Congestion is the number one issue on our roads,” he told Open Road. And he’s right – only the oil companies win with congestion.
In 2005, the Great Sydney Traffic Jam cost individuals and businesses an estimated $3.5 billion (a figure projected to rise to $7.8 billion in 2020).
According to congestion report presented 18 months ago to the Council of Australian Governments, “traffic levels in our cities will increase by some 37 per cent over the next 15 years”.
That means more cars and more chances for the sort of crashes that constantly block motorways, such as the six-car pile-up in May that closed the M5 East tunnel, shutting off a major traffic artery into the city.
Help, however, appears to be at hand. In the May Federal Budget, it was announced that $75 million had been allocated for feasibility studies into easing traffic congestion. The politicians know congestion upsets and angers people, and they know it’s only going to get worse, because peak travel times are lengthening during the working week, and weekends are now the busiest days of all. “Travel times on Saturdays… eclipse those on weekdays for all routes,” says NRMA Motoring and Services President, Alan Evans.
From the way they talk, federal and state politicians alike seem serious about solving NSW traffic congestion problems. Of the $75 million earmarked for feasibility studies nationwide, $25 million is going to Sydney – $20 million for a feasibility study into the proposed Western Metro between Parramatta and the CBD, and $5 million to look at improving the M5 transport corridor from Port Botany/Sydney Airport to south-west Sydney.
The problem is, even at $25 million, talk is still relatively cheap. “I would like to see them go beyond simply committing themselves to just supporting feasibility studies and actually commit themselves to some serious money in terms of sustainable solutions,” says transport and traffic expert Professor David Hensher from the University of Sydney.
“From meetings I’ve been to in Canberra, I’ve even heard comments along the lines of, ‘The feds are committed to this, but don’t expect them to put much money in.’ That is a concern I have.”
If Professor Hensher is right, all the improvements and additions that advocacy groups, including NRMA, have long been calling for will “be funded by the states and public-private partnerships”. With the Cross City and Lane Cove Tunnel difficulties still fresh in motorists’ minds, it’s hardly a comforting thought.
However, Minister Roozendaal insists the NSW State Government is putting its money where its mouth is, pointing to the $660 million “we are investing in easing traffic congestion and increasing public transport under the urban transport statement… [including] $100 million… to directly target traffic hotspots on our road network to reduce congestion at known traffic ‘pinch points’”. It is also adding $10 million to the M5 East feasibility study. “We need to look to the future and start planning now for the road infrastructure Sydney is going to need in the years ahead,” says the minister.
Organisations like NRMA, advocacy group Infrastructure Partnerships Australia and leading Sydney businesses all believe Sydney’s road network needs improving. NRMA wants the M2, M5 and M5 tunnel widened, and key missing links built, such as the F3 to M2, and extensions to the F6 and M4.
NRMA also says fleet-operating businesses are warming to toll roads in general, although adding another toll for motorists from the north-west due to the Lane Cove Tunnel seems to have resulted in ‘toll fatigue’, with traffic volumes far lower than its owners had hoped.
Brendan Lyon of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia says serious money must be spent on roads, but the State Government also needs “to improve the service delivery of public transport”.
Unfortunately, public transport is already running near capacity in many areas, and Professor Hensher believes this could be a significant problem: “The worst thing that can happen with high fuel prices is to encourage people to use public transport, only [for them] to be disillusioned and go back to their cars.”
Extending motorways, widening roads and building bridges will all help, but are the funds available?
Professor Hensher believes the answer lies in the model being introduced in countries like the Netherlands and UK.
In the Netherlands, fuel taxes and all other taxes imposed on fuel will be phased out, starting with trucks and then cars. Instead, a variable user-charging scheme utilising GPS technology will see motorists – regardless of what road they are on – pay according to use, time of day, location and emissions.
A similar scheme for trucks is already operating across Germany.
Hensher says the money could go into roads and public transport.
The benefits of a better public transport system and free-flowing roads could be dramatic as quantity of work and quality of life improve. But in a city such as Sydney where motorists are already forced to fork out for using toll roads, it is less clear how it could work.
NSW Government politicians face electoral disaster unless they can make Sydney’s roads flow.
In the past few years, we have seen breakdowns and delays plague an increasingly overloaded bus and rail network. Motorway extensions have been shelved and rail projects cancelled.
It doesn’t have to be this way. NRMA experts already have ideas in place to free up our roads...
Revise working hours
Many employers are rusted to the notion of 9-to-5, forcing most of Sydney’s workforce onto the roads and trains at the same time. “Traffic flows much better during school holidays, proving a small drop in road users can make a major impact,” says Mark Wolstenholme, NRMA’s Head of Government Relations and Public Policy. Flexible and staggered working hours would reduce the time people spend in traffic jams and on overcrowded trains.
Make rail more attractive
One reason people prefer cars to trains is that station parking is limited. Yet NRMA lobbying for an extensive park-and-ride network at stations has met with baffling resistance from those who believe everyone should catch a bus, ride a bike or walk to a station. “Unless station parking is made easier and safer, once people are in their cars they’ll just keep driving,” says Mark. “And there is often nowhere for motorists to safely drop off or pick up passengers.”
Introduce integrated ticketing
A stand-off with a third party has stalled state plans for integrated ticketing for buses and trains. This would have ended queues for separate tickets and given people the option of topping up their tickets on the web or by mobile phone.
Resolve lane confusion
Bus lanes cause confusion for motorists, says Mark. Some are painted red, some not, and the hours motorists can use them are “all over the place”. Transit lanes can also be confusing, like those on Epping Road above the Lane Cove Tunnel. “They have a T2 lane leading into a bus lane, leading into a T3,” says Mark. “This does nothing to encourage car sharing.”
Enforce traffic rules
Many transit lanes fail because they are difficult to police. “The key is to remove people who aren’t legally allowed to use the lane,” says Mark. This applies to other traffic flow measures, such as the law against queuing across intersections: “The RTA tries to phase the traffic lights on the key routes so this one will go green and then the one up ahead will go green a few seconds later as you get to it. But if vehicles are queued across the intersection, it upsets the whole system.”
Revise CBD parking
Mark says circulating traffic searching for elusive on-street parking spots adds to CBD congestion. “One solution is to direct people to the carparks as they come in, using variable signs on main arteries to indicate which carparks have spaces and how many.”
Embrace technology
Variable signs could be used to provide up-to-date travel time information, and highlight any benefits of travelling by bus or car-sharing on specific routes. “The signs should be used more pro-actively to direct motorists away from traffic incidents, especially before they enter a motorway or tollway,” says Mark.
Improve main roads
NRMA believes better roads will improve traffic flow and safety, reducing incidents. “Trying to build our way out of trouble is not the total solution,” says Mark. “But a well-connected network and integration with other transport modes is the key.” These are some of the projects NRMA will continue to campaign for:
M4 extension: The M4 East extension has become even more important with the projected doubling of freight by 2020 and the need to link to Port Botany and the airport.
F6 extension: This link between Sydney’s southern suburbs and the Illawarra is vital to ensure business and tourism flourish and to connect the F6 Freeway with the Sydney Orbital.
M5 tunnel: The two-lane M5 tunnel continues to be a source of misery for motorists and stands in stark contrast to the three-lane tunnels on the Citylink and Eastlink motorways in Melbourne.
North side roads: NRMA is supporting a package of measures including underpasses, changes to parking and improvements for buses on key roads.
Open Road July/August 2008
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