Traffic Trends

The NSW Audit Office has released the following data about the average speeds for seven major routes between Sydney and the greater metropolitan area for the last five years for the morning and afternoon peaks.  I've graphed the data for easy analysis:

The overall trend is fairly clear and expected - the morning peak shows a general reduction in average speeds, indicating increasing congestion.  The afternoon peaks have generally shown an increase in average speeds.  There is significant improvement along the M2 and, to a lesser extent, the Pacific Highway since the opening of the Lane Cove Tunnel in 2007.

Some other points of interest I noticed:

• Victoria Road is the slowest in both peaks.  I guess this is why the NSW Government is pushing its Victoria Road project through the pipeline so rapidly, especially since the cancellation of the North West Metro.

• Victoria Rd congestion has remained steady in both peaks despite the afternoon being 10km/h faster.  My guess is the number of people using Victoria Road in the morning and afternoon has remained steady but the afternoon peak is more spread out allowing faster average speeds.  

 

• The only route to show a recognisable decrease in average speeds during the afternoon peak is the M5/Eastern Distributor route.  This route has been criticised because it was built too narrow (only two lanes in each direction) and completely underestimated demand.  This still doesn't explain the decline over the last four years because the M5 East opened in late 2001.  Despite its decline, it's still one of the fastest afternoon routes.
  

 

• The Princes Highway sits pretty low on both graphs but we don't seem to hear the same complaints from commuters coming from the south.

 Since the cancellation of the North West Metro, the Government has promised to supply the North West with 100 new buses.  If they will be on routes with no significant bus lanes they will end up sharing the road space with private cars and degrading the morning peak speeds even further.  These stats will really show whether or not the RTA's efforts to alleviate congestion at key 'pinch points' will make any difference.