An Answer to The Question

If you’re a regular reader of PT, you probably know The Question:

Name a place that has successfully addressed traffic congestion by building more roads and bridges, a place that the Vancouver region should be more like.

I’m still waiting for an answer.  But here’s a place worth considering: Melbourne, Australia.

This region of about three million typically joins us at the top of the ‘livable cities’ lists each year, and it’s a place that pioneered the use of P3s to build freeways, tunnels and bridges.  City Link, in particular, was a major commitment to freeway expansion, and more roads are in the works. 

So how has Melbourne faired?  Have the promises of reduced congestion and increased transportation efficiencies been fulfilled? Fortunately, we have an answer, thanks to a study done by John Odgers at RMIT’s School of Management: Have all the travel time savings on Melbourne’s road network been achieved?

You’re not going to be surprised at the conclusions, are you?

In sum, the results from this study suggest that the core of travel times savings benefits, which is an increase in average travel speeds, has not to date eventuated in Melbourne’s urban road network during the years under review.

Indeed, based on the evidence presented and analysed in this paper, one could be led to the conclusion that investments in Melbourne’s urban road network have resulted in more time being used by Melbourne’s motorists rather than less time.

Hence major road infrastructure initiatives and the consequent economic investments have not yet delivered a net economic benefit to either Melbourne’s motorists or the Victorian community. Equally concerning is the plausible conclusion from this analysis that over their remaining economic life such major urban road network investments are unlikely to result in major travel time savings.

But, if past experience is any case, we’ll build ’em anyway, even as we cut back on transit investments.