Freeways not timesavers

A study released today compares 1990s predictions of massive timesavings if new freeways were built in Melbourne, with current data taking into account all the new freeways. The report concludes that car travel times in Melbourne are slower than ever. New roads mean new traffic.

One of the authors of the early reports on Citilink thinks that John Odgers’ report is, “pretty silly really,” to suggest that Citilink has not saved people travel time. Does make you wonder though about the merits of the $6B worth of newly proposed freeways and bypasses. The Age reports that they, “are being justified using similar predictions of travel time savings.”

Odgers: “The cost benefit analysis claims that the great majority (87.5%) of East Link’s total economic benefits of $12.9 billion would derive from the value of travel time savings.”

The report makes the case that while freeways are not the timesavers they were funded to be, they do encourage greater access. But… “a more dispersed, car dependent city benefits some, but also has serious costs in terms of greenhouse emissions and oil dependence.”

» THE AGE

Posted by Peter on 04.09.09 in urban planning