How can we keep traffic flowing?
We all want to get around Yarra safely, so we can visit friends, the library, shops or services. The problem is that traffic congestion is becoming severe and parking is difficult to find. The good news that we can design our city so that it works well for drivers:
Suggestions
As we can see from other countries, cities can be better for drivers if they:
- provide highways for travelling medium or long distances
- separate ‘movement’ roads from ‘shopping’ streets
- use pricing to manage parking, so that drivers can generally find a spot to park
- offer alternatives to driving – safe, cohesive networks for walking, cycling and public transport – so that people who are willing to ‘have a go’ with other modes are able to, thus freeing up space for those who need to drive
What council can do
Yarra City Council has already established a 30 km/h zone and built some protected bike lanes. The next steps are to:
- expand 30 km/h across the municipality to reduce traffic speeds within neighbourhoods
- add modal filters to reduce traffic volumes within neighbourhoods
- build cycleways to link calmed neighbourhoods
- use pricing to manage parking, so that drivers can generally find a spot to park
What the state government can do
The state government has already:
- built a network of Preferred Traffic Routes across Melbourne
- imposed a congestion levy (which increases the price of off-street parking in the inner city) to discourage people from commuting in by car
- imposed parking maximums for new developments in the inner city with good access to public transport, which slightly reduces the growth in traffic congestion
The next best actions the state government can take is:
- impose decongestion charges on arterial roads that are experiencing severe congestion
- build protected bike lanes on state controlled arterials that form part of the Strategic Cycling Corridor network
How alternatives to driving can help
Other modes of transport require less space per person, which means they can transport more people, especially during peak hour. If other modes are allocated a reasonable amount of street space, they free up space on traffic lanes for people who need to drive.
Design guide
Learn more about how to design for cars in a dense inner city:
Support from Infrastructure Victoria
People won’t change modes unless they can see that the alternative is safe and convenient. This requires some reallocation of street space to wider footpaths, protected bicycle lanes and protected public transport stops. In turn, this requires targeted investment, as recommended by Infrastructure Victoria.
Support from the RACV
Victoria’s motoring organisation, the RACV, supports wider footpaths and separated bicycle lanes for Sydney Road in Brunswick, because they realise that congestion will be reduced. The same logic applies to reducing congestion on any shopping street in Yarra.
There are many competing demands for inner city road space, and safety issues as cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, motorcycles, trams and pedestrians all try to fit within narrow corridors. Using roads to park empty cars is not an efficient use of space. That space can be used for bicycle facilities, tram platform stops, loading zones, traffic lanes and wider footpaths – what’s right depends on each road, the people that need safe and efficient passage along the road, and the community they’re passing through. The State Government, Councils and businesses need to work together to identify places where off-street parking can be better utilised, and new off-street parking provided, to enable on-street space to be used differently. RACV supports a trial to remove on-street parking on Sydney Road in early 2018, which can then be considered for the rest of Sydney Road and other streets within inner-Melbourne, including roads in the City of Yarra.
Manager, Roads and Traffic, Public Policy Department, RACV
Conclusion
Yarra’s streets can be better for drivers if some space is reallocated to walking, cycling and public transport, supported by car sharing.