An interesting study has put a new price on the cost of congestion with the implications indicating capital city dwelling Australians are sacrificing the equivalent of up to 6 per cent of their salaries sitting in morning traffic.
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The study compared how many hours people spent driving to work every year in 108 cities around the world. Coupling that with average salaries in each city, they calculated how much workers lost in equivalent wages during their morning commute. The comparison assumes workers earn an hourly wage and choose to extend their workday with the hours they otherwise spend commuting. Predictably Sydney was the worst-ranked Australian city with workers each wasting the equivalent of $3308 or 5.9 per cent of average after-tax salaries, driving to work. Melbourne had a loss equivalent of 3.9 per cent. Call it lost productivity or the cost of a holiday it is still a waste.
Figures were not tabulated for Ballarat but with an average 10-20 minute commute for most people the cost is likely to be a fraction of their big city counterparts. The point of these less than scientific calculations is not to gloat on comparisons with Mexico city (the world’s worst) but to re-quantify in relative terms just what travel congestion and poor planning can do to a city.
Of equal interest is how the individual in any major city beset by enormous population size and congestion can reclaim this commute time by spending it productively or at least more entertainingly than being stuck in traffic. This is where the public transport model with full connectivity has won a horde of devotees in Europe. When a train trip from Ballarat to Melbourne’s CBD can be a half hour quicker than a car commute from Hallam or Hurstbridge, then fast and reliable trains would win a similarly growing group of friends. Coupled with the lifestyle advantages, property prices and this cost impact of spending too much time in a car, the advantages of regional living become even clearer.
While Ballarat is now at a major advantage compared to capital cities with commute times and congestion, the current difference in size alone won’t guarantee it staying this way. What we know is population growth is almost a given. In Melbourne this will continue to be rapid, making the problems worse and Ballarat’s advantage greater. But internally, Ballarat will also need to plan to avoid it becoming our problem. That is the future, do we want to be part of it?
