If you though you were spending longer stuck in traffic snarls, you are probably correct.
As noted by Lindsay David on Twitter, the latest TomTom Traffic Index data shows “traffic in Australia is worse than the worse traffic cities in metropolitan America. Even Los Angeles metropolitan area”:
As shown above, Sydney drivers lose an average of 142 hours a year stuck in rush hour traffic.
Adelaide (120 hours), Melbourne (118 hours) and Brisbane (115 hours) also spend more time stuck in traffic congestion than any American city.
The situation is only going to worsen from here.
Australia’s population soared by a record high 482,000 in the 2022 calendar year on the back of unprecedented net overseas migration (NOM):
In updated forecasts released on Friday, the Australian Treasury projected NOM to reach 400,000 this fiscal year and 315,000 in 2023-24. That’s way above the 235,000 annual NOM forecast in the September federal budget.
The fact is that Australia has been running a turbo-charged migrant intake since 2005, with clear consequences: roads, public transportation, schools, and hospitals are all overcrowded, despite record infrastructure spending.
Lifting NOM even higher and expecting infrastructure to miraculously improve is delusional.
Infrastructure Australia’s 2018 modelling for Sydney and Melbourne projected that traffic congestion, commute times, and access to jobs, schools, hospitals and green space will worsen as their populations balloon to 7.4 million and 7.3 million people respectively by 2046:
Sydney Population and Liveability Projections:
Melbourne Population and Liveability Projections:
As long as the federal government maintains the ‘Big Australia’ mass immigration policy, liveability indicators will continue to worsen, including traffic congestion.
