Tale of Two Cities: Brisbane, Sydney equal last on traffic - but Sydney for very different reasons
14 December 2017
IPA: Infrastructure Partnerships Australia’s Australian Travel Time Metric - Australia’s first regular measurement of actual road network performance using anonymised and aggregated Uber data – shows Brisbane joins Sydney with the worst traffic delays in the nation.
Quotes on Brisbane:
“The data shows motorists spend 50 per cent longer getting across inner Brisbane and the CBD in peak hour showing precisely why Brisbane and Queensland need to find ways to pay for more and better transport,” said IPA Chief Executive Brendan Lyon.
Brisbane snapshot this quarter:
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Longest average traffic delay: 9.2 minutes between the CBD and Chermside in AM peak;
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Largest increase in journey time: AM peak inner metro to CBD trips 54 per cent longer than off peak.
Brisbane key stats 2015-2017:
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Biggest deterioration: Off peak journey times from the airport to the CBD grew 15 per cent;
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Biggest improvement: AM peak travel time in the CBD to Chermside route improved by 11 per cent.
“The headline data shows Sydney and Brisbane as the equal worst performers on traffic, but the reasons and outlook are very different.
“The biggest drag on traffic in Sydney is the short-term disruption caused by the unprecedented level of transport infrastructure being built in every corner of that city.
“This means that while Sydney and
Brisbane are equal last, Sydney can expect to see major improvements
from 2019 as multiple construction sites that are slowing traffic now
turn into new motorways and railways that ease congestion.
“Measuring actual performance shows clearly why Cross River Rail, the
Gateway Upgrade North and the Logan Enhancement Project are important,
but also, why it’s critical that Queensland finds the money to lift
infrastructure funding to allow the next round of road and rail projects
to get going.”
Quotes about the Australian Travel Time Metric:
Uber’s General Manager, Australia & New Zealand, David Rohrsheim said:
"We know that our ability to move around cities has a profound impact on our quality of life and reducing congestion is quite rightly a top priority for government as a result.
"At Uber we're focused on making it easier for more people to get around without having to get behind the wheel, and we're proud to have made this a far more viable option over the past five years.
"With the Australian Travel Time Metric, we're pleased to provide valuable insights for government and industry and to be making a contribution to important city-shaping infrastructure and planning decisions across the country.”
IPA’s CEO Brendan Lyon said:
“Our partnership with Uber allows the first-ever regular measurement of how well the road system is performing, within and between Australia’s four major capital cities.
“Urban congestion is the classic ‘frog in boiling water’ problem, we all sense the water is getting warmer but through our partnership with Uber we are able to measure which capital cities are doing well and which are not.
“Transport infrastructure tends to
focus only on what we put in, in terms of dollars spent and projects
built, with Uber’s data we are now able to measure what we are getting
back and whether it’s getting harder or easier to move around our major
cities.”
--ENDS--
Source: Infrastructure Partnership Australia - www.infrastructure.org.au
Contact: Sarah Dagg T 0438 380 464 Uber: Michael Scott T 0437 743 001
External Links: http://infrastructure.org.au/chartgroup/travel-time-index-chart/
Recent news by: Infrastructure Partnership Australia