Article: Traffic is jamming our city

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From the Herald Sun  click here!

Traffic is jamming our city

Traffic is jamming our city
May 21, 2012 12:00AM

GETTING to work is a longer and more frustrating experience than ever, with Melbourne drivers now stuck in traffic for almost as long as gridlocked Sydneysiders.

Traffic congestion has become so bad, it takes us an additional 12 minutes to get to and from work than it did seven years ago.

An AustraliaSCAN study conducted by Quantum Market Research has revealed Melbourne commuters take an average 30 minutes to get to the office, only a minute less than Sydney residents.

The study also found:

THE number of Melburnians dissatisfied with public transport has jumped from 32 per cent to 49 per cent over the past decade.

ALMOST nine out of 10 commuters (88 per cent) believe traffic congestion will get worse in the next decade.

THREE-QUARTERS of motorists say they "hate driving in heavy traffic".

Quantum Market Research managing director Imogen Randell said Australians were not only toiling for longer, but taking longer to get to work and back, increasing stress levels among time-poor commuters.

"When you overlay that with feeling increasingly disempowered, like you can't have a say and have an impact, it kind of adds to that sense of being out of control.

"That then plays into this idea that we want to simplify our lives again because of those pressures we're feeling," she said.

RACV general manager public policy Brian Negus said the cost of road congestion was tipped to double to $6 billion a year by 2020.

"Melbourne's results rivalling Sydney's - which has always been regarded as being more congested - demonstrates the critical need to improve road and public transport infrastructure and services," he said.

- Greg Thom