Brisbane Commuter Times GROWING Rapidly!!!

[SteelPan]

...Sydneysiders have always fared the worst, closely followed by Melbourne, but both are now being chased down by Brisbane, which has blown out by almost 50 per cent in recent years......


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-30/commuting-times-soar-with-house-prices-population-boom-blamed/11346258

[ozbob]

The 2019 HILDA Survey confirms Brisbane commute times have blown out by 45 per cent over the last 15 years, the highest of all capital cities and also the second longest commute time only behind Sydney https://t.co/KGK1WFCQG4 #qldpol #growingpains pic.twitter.com/AHxu0b83cT

— Nick Behrens (@NickBehrens1) July 29, 2019

https://twitter.com/NickBehrens1/status/1155954021389090818

Source: https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/3127664/HILDA-Statistical-Report-2019.pdf

[ozbob]

How long do you spend on your commute to work each day? According to new figures, we're spending longer than ever travelling to and from work and it's putting unprecedented pressure on families. #9Today pic.twitter.com/wUVPcv8ClT

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) July 29, 2019

[#Metro]

Wow, I thought all the toll tunnels were supposed to solve all of this

[techblitz]

Brisbane is catching a classic case of 'Big Australia Syndrome'.....the same strain that we have seen menacing Sydney/melbourne...

Darn contagious if the conditions are just right......cheaper property/land prices (check).....higher than OECD average population growth to ensure increased demand for rooves over head (check).....hopeless politicians way out of their league to deal with it in time(check)..

Quarantine procedure suggested.....cut the damn rate of population growth before it before it moves to an epidemic stage....

[ozbob]

Staggering number of vehicles on our roads https://t.co/zbZJjipxMO #qldpol
More roads, more cars >> repeat till terminal gridlock#youarewelcome pic.twitter.com/NusCSS15th

— RAIL_BoT_Forum (@railbotforum) July 31, 2019

[ozbob]

Rail Express --> Labor pressures Coalition as commute times rise

The federal opposition has reiterated calls for transport spending to be accelerated, after an Australian survey showed commute times have risen 23 per cent since 2002.

Data collected by the University of Melbourne shows average weekly travel times are now 4.5 hours of combined travel to and from work.

That figure is up 23 per cent, from 3.7 hours recorded in 2002, and effectively adds to the typical 38-hour working week by 12 per cent.

Sydney commuters now face an average 71-minute journey to and from work each day, while Melbournians are averaging 65 minutes of workday travel.

One in six Australians now commutes for more than two hours each workday, compared to just one in eight in 2002.

Labor's shadow minister for infrastructure and transport Catherine King said the data was more evidence the Morrison Government needs to move forward planned spending on infrastructure.

"The HILDA survey notes longer commute times can reduce worker wellbeing through diminished job satisfaction and flexibility between work and non-work commitments," King said.

"It's time for Scott Morrison's two Ministers for Infrastructure – Michael McCormack and Alan Tudge – to bring forward investment in infrastructure projects to stimulate the Australian economy and actually bust congestion, not just talk about it.

"After talking a big game on infrastructure during the election campaign, Australians are rightly concerned by McCormack and Tudge's repeated refusals to bring forward infrastructure investment to stimulate a sluggish economy and bust congestion."

Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW secretary Alex Claassens specifically called on the NSW Government to address long commute times.

"The news that Sydneysiders are spending longer than ever commuting each week will come as no shock to anyone who commutes in Sydney," Claassens said.

"Rather than attempting to fix the growing problem of long commute times, the Transport Minister is instead focused on privatising our vital public transport assets – a move that's of no benefit to anyone except a handful of wealthy business shareholders."

[James]

Urban sprawl + inadequate public transport = lots of people driving all the way to-and-from work.

The worst part of all of this is that Brisbane's commute times are worse than Melbourne's despite being a bit over half the population size of greater Melbourne (4.45m vs. 2.28m). Whereas Melbourne's urban area really extends no further than Frankston (40km) and Pakenham (50km), developments like Ripley (35km), Yarrabilba (38km) and Caboolture South (40km from the CBD) are already going in, despite our urban area having half the number of people. This development pattern is making our average commute times longer and encouraging car use.

Not only does transport spending need to be increased & accelerated, the urban sprawl madness needs to stop. It is causing obesity, it is taking people away from their families, and any fix (i.e. widening roads) is temporary, localised and incredibly expensive.

Just look at the Gateway Motorway North Upgrade. $1.1bn, and what has it done? Shifted the bottleneck from the Nudgee merge to Bracken Ridge. Then they'll upgrade that section, and where will the bottleneck go? To the Pine River Bridge. And so the cycle continues.

[AnonymouslyBad]

Urban sprawl + inadequate public transport = lots of people driving all the way to-and-from work.

The worst part of all of this is that Brisbane's commute times are worse than Melbourne's despite being a bit over half the population size of greater Melbourne (4.45m vs. 2.28m). Whereas Melbourne's urban area really extends no further than Frankston (40km) and Pakenham (50km), developments like Ripley (35km), Yarrabilba (38km) and Caboolture South (40km from the CBD) are already going in, despite our urban area having half the number of people. This development pattern is making our average commute times longer and encouraging car use.

Yep. And even those Melbourne examples aren't really the same thing, in that they're along train lines and have developed as commuter towns accordingly. They're not part of an endless, uninterrupted suburban sprawl the way you see in Sydney or Brisbane. Things are changing in Melbourne, unfortunately, and the western suburbs especially are littered with car-dependent greenfields. But traditionally it's been compact, and in a lot of directions, you still hit fields 15km out - for now.

It really speaks for itself that Sydney (endless sprawl) is first place with Brisbane (endless sprawl) punching well above its weight to come in second.

[verbatim9]

Top 20 worst performing bus routes for on running

[#Metro]

I suspect that urban commute times for the majority within the BCC area are actually stable.

I speculate that the reason for the lengthening of the commute times is because of spatial changes (e.g sprawl). When you have a new development like Ripely, it means that a new set of trips are being generated from quite a distance. These would thus be skewing the results, changing the middle part of the data.

Sometimes I wonder if BCC/QLD Gov know what their proverbial left and right hands are doing. Building infrastructure out to far flung places is MIND-BLOWINGLY expensive.

Consider rail for 200 million/km, and btw you need say 40 km to get out to Ripley. That is billions. Then connecting roads, plus all the public infrastructures. And then the big money eater -  $60K/parking spaces at stations.

There is enough of a backlog within the existing urban fabric already, without generating *new* demands for money and project focuses. For example, bits of the existing Cleveland line need duplication, stations are not DDA compliant etc.

Then there is the really wrong-headed thinking that BCC has for banning townhouses. What are they trying to do, blow up their transport budget by having buses generate less revenue and patronage from keeping densities low?