The New South Wales and Victorian Governments are being urged to consider a congestion fee for motorists to cut down traffic. Researchers at the Grattan Institute say it's the most effective way to ease road congestion that's costing billions of dollars in lost productivity.
Almost half of Australia's population lives in Sydney and Melbourne which is placing a major strain on the cities' roads. Commutes are getting longer and traffic jams all too frequent, according to infrastructure expert Marion Terrill from the Grattan Institute.
TERRILL
"A lot of the measures we've taken have been helpful to some extent, but we've got a lot of adapting to do, so it is worth looking at what countries around the world have done and one of the successful strategies that other countries have done, or big cities have done, like London and Singapore and Stockholm is introduce congestion charging."
Victoria's Transport Minister Jacinta Allan has been promoting new trains in Melbourne. She says the state is focusing on public transport as well as building more roads with greater capacity.
ALLAN
"There is a very long list of road projects right across Melbourne that is about addressing traffic moving around the city, through the city, on those big freeways or on those local arterial roads."
But researchers such as Ms Terrill say bigger roads aren't the solution. Instead, the Grattan Institute has released a report, suggesting a fee for motorists entering an inner-city cordoned area in peak periods. In Melbourne, the zone would cover Hoddle Street to the east, Royal Parade to the west, City Road and Olympic Boulevard to the south, and Alexandra Parade to the north. In Sydney, measures would address key trouble areas for traffic such as the Spit Bridge at Manly, and the commute from the city to the inner west. Ms Terrill says while motorists may fear another fee, the extra charge on driving in peak hours, would be offset in other ways.
TERRILL
"It would be better to offset this with a discount on vehicle registration. Because what it's really proposing is that you change the way that you pay to drive, not necessarily change the amount that you pay to drive."
Sydney and Melbourne could lose 50 billion dollars in lost productivity, if the traffic issue isn't fixed over the next 15 years, according to a report by The Committee for Economic Development of Australia. The Grattan Institute will lobby the Victorian and New South Wales governments to consider the proposed changes, to cut traffic. But there's not yet any assurance they'll get approved. Minister Allan confirmed there are no plans to consider a congestion charge.
ALLAN
"The approach we're taking is about investing in roads, investing in our public transport system to expand capacity, to increase capacity. Put on more train services to encourage more people to catch public transport. This is the approach we're taking, it's also an approach that's creating thousands of jobs as well."
In London, a congesion fee has been in place at peak hours in the city for a decade, and also in Singapore and Stockholm. In those cities, it's said to have worked, clearing the roads in part, for more liveable cities.
