VGAO - Managing Traffic Congestion

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Managing Traffic Congestion

http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/reports_and_publications/latest_reports/2012-13/20130417-traffic-congestion.aspx

Tabled: 17 April 2012

The economic costs of congestion are significant and rising. While the state each year invests in initiatives to relieve congestion, it currently does so in the absence of a statewide plan with clearly defined objectives, strategies and associated agency responsibilities for congestion and travel demand management.

Consequently, the state's approach to congestion management remains dominated by expensive supply-side initiatives focused on increasing capacity with little evident attention to demand management alternatives. While the immediate benefits from these initiatives are clear, the absence of demand management means it cannot be assured that they are the most economical and cost-effective options in the longer term.

Growing pressure on state finances and uncertainty around Commonwealth contributions means there is a pressing need to explore more fiscally sustainable strategies that leverage demand management to tackle Melbourne's growing congestion. However, it is not evident that agencies are actively exploring such strategies.

Agencies manage the transport system to implement a range of legislative and policy objectives and it is recognised that these need to be balanced with any goal to manage congestion. However, the absence of a statewide traffic congestion and demand management framework linked to broader transport and land use strategies means it is not clear whether strategic planning and investment by agencies in congestion relief is soundly based, integrated and aligned.

Recent improvements in planning for road use, land use and public transport have significant potential to assist with alleviating road congestion and improving accessibility and productivity. However, there is currently little assurance this potential will be fully realised without coordinated statewide strategies that include clearly defined agency responsibilities and accountabilities for congestion and travel demand management.

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

Auditor slams plan for road tunnel link

Auditor slams plan for road tunnel link
April 18, 2013 Jason Dowling

Victorians can have no confidence the proposed multibillion-dollar tunnel connecting the Eastern Freeway to CityLink is the most effective and economical option for managing congestion, according to a blistering new Auditor-General's report.

It said not enough consideration was given to how much new projects ''increased congestion by inducing extra road use'' or whether strategies to encourage fewer people to drive were better value for money.

The report said pressure on state finances and uncertainty around Commonwealth contributions meant Victoria had to be smarter in how it tackled Melbourne's growing congestion with greater emphasis on managing demand.

The report said current strategies remained heavily weighted towards increasing road space ''with little attention to demand management''.

The report by Acting Auditor-General Dr Peter Frost found congestion was getting worse. It said Victoria had no statewide congestion or demand management strategy to ''inform infrastructure expansion''.

It also noted some measures that could ease congestion had been ignored or cut.

The report said funding was cut in 2012 for the VicRoads Incident Response Service to conduct routine patrols on arterial roads and this meant ''motorists may now experience longer delays following minor crashes and vehicle breakdowns''.

The report also revealed in 2009 the state government conducted an inquiry into road pricing that looked at area charging for inner Melbourne, charging on ''three concentric cordons around the central business district'', parking charges and distance-based charging across Melbourne. ''The study showed that road pricing has the potential to substantially reduce travel times and the demand for road use during peak periods. It also showed potential for effecting an increase in public transport patronage, including average travel speeds across all network modes.

''Despite this, policy options for the implementation of road pricing in Melbourne have yet to be developed,'' the report said.

The report also noted while Public Transport Victoria had a statutory obligation to seek to increase the proportion of people using public transport, it did not have a target or strategies to achieve it.

Public reporting of a previous target to increase the mode share of public transport travel to 20 per cent by 2020 was stopped in 2010 with the change of government. Weekday public transport use makes up about 13 per cent of all motorised journeys.

A spokeswoman for Roads and Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder said the government did not support a congestion tax or the tolling of existing roads.

She said the government had introduced more train services and was working on the East-West Link as ''an alternative to the already congested Monash/CityLink/West Gate corridor, so even minor traffic incidents don't cause gridlock in metropolitan Melbourne''.

Opposition roads spokesman Luke Donnellan said the government had been ''sitting still, with no plan and no action on alleviating congestion''.

Greens MP Greg Barber said: ''The only permanent cure for congestion is better public transport.''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/auditor-slams-plan-for-road-tunnel-link-20130417-2i0lq.html#ixzz2QjwmqqDz