Avoid Congestion - Travel by Bus !?

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In the last twenty years, Perth traffic has slowed down. According to The West (Peak-hour pain grows and 'likely to get worse', 22 Sep 2011), reporting on statistics from Main Roads WA. From the article, driving a car from the suburbs to the city will take between 50% and 75% longer today than it did twenty years ago.

So what should we do?

Take public transport, I hear you reply...

According to Google Maps, I could get from home to the city -- if I left now -- in 75 minutes. If I travelled by bus. Take the car and I can be there in 17 minutes.

Comparison 1: Travel by car: 17 minutes. Travel by the best available public transport: 75 minutes -- including a 25 minute wait for the next available bus.

Truth to tell, I'm writing this at 10 pm. The car time will be about right -- with not much traffic. Buses are less frequent at night -- if I wait at home for 68 minutes I can catch a closer bus and have only 37 minutes travel. Of course I will arrive in the city 30 minutes later. And 87 minutes later than if I'd driven my car.

Public transport at night? You have to be kidding!

What about during the morning rush?

Practical experience shows that travel time -- by public transport -- would be about one hour. Yes, 60 minutes. Why so slow? Because there are two buses: each bus travels at the same speed as a car but there is a wait at the bus connection.

A better question would be, Why so fast? How can I get to the city, by bus, in only 60 minutes?

At night, the buses are few and far between. From "now" I have to wait more than 20 minutes before I even leave the house. That's 20 minutes which does not apply to travel by car. During the day -- actually going to the city to work -- everything can be timed so that you plan to leave with just enough time to catch the bus.

Comparison 2: At rush hour, travel by car: perhaps 30 minutes. Travel by the best available public transport: 60 minutes.

It gets worse...

Google Maps does not seem to know that its suggested bus no longer travels all the way to work. That's why a bus change is required. So... add perhaps 20 minutes to the night-time bus travel time:

Comparison 3: On a quiet night, travel by car: 17 minutes. Travel by the best available public transport: perhaps 95 minutes. That's more than five times the time, by bus rather than by car.

Why would anyone travel by bus?!

Yes, traffic congestion is bad. Travel by car is slow and slowing. Travel by bus is even slower.

Oh, and have you noticed that, in twenty years, the visible air pollution has also increased... No, it's not really those people in the hills with their wood fires. It's increased industry and increased crowding... and increased use of motorised transport.

There are solutions to all of these problems.

But they cost money. The solutions cost potential profits. And, ultimately, the solutions cost votes. So the solutions will never happen.

Traffic congestion is avoidable. But only if we are willing to implement real solutions.

So shut up, stop whingeing, add another hour (or two) of travel time to your work day. And hope that the money will balance everything else that you have lost.

Independent thinking & independent analysis of your problems. Agamedes Consulting: Support for your thought. email nick leth at gmail dot com