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Report claims congestion costs Australia $3.3 billion annually

More than $3 billion worth of time is being lost per year due to traffic in Australia’s busiest cities, according to research conducted by TomTom.
The  TomTom Traffic Index Report has found traffic in Australia’s 10 busiest cities is increasing overall travel times by 25 per cent, on average. This is extending the time commercial drivers spend on the road by an average of 25 minutes per day across Australia’s major metros, costing those businesses in excess of $7.15 per day or $3.37 billion per year, as a result of wasted labour costs.
Christopher Chisman-Duffy, Sales Manager at TomTom Telematics ANZ, says, “Traffic congestion is a fact of life for every driver. As we reveal the latest Traffic Index results, we can see that the problem is not going away.”
“In fact, traffic congestion in Australia has increased by an average of 4 per cent over the last eight years, with Sydney being the most congested city in Australia and the 30th most congested city globally. There is a clear need to overcome the congestion challenge to recapture those lost hours.”
The report has also found morning peak hours (8am-9am) to be the worst time to travel, increasing overall travel times by an average of 42 per cent. This is followed by evening peak hours (5pm-6pm) where travel times increase by 41 per cent.
“Organisations that rely upon a mobile workforce know that success depends upon optimising the time spent doing billable work. Congestion means there is a greater chance the driver will become stuck, wasting billable time, burning fuel, missing targets and potentially disappointing customers,” says Chisman-Duffy.
“Telematics solutions can help businesses to overcome these issues, as they help keep your mobile teams out of traffic jams. Not only can they help to ensure drivers receive the best route, based on anticipated congestion spots and collected data from other devices, they can also enable the back office to better plan around congestion. By providing a platform that monitors potential traffic problems, fleet managers and planners can operate a smart scheduling and dispatch service, using the best placed driver for each job, every time.” concludes Chisman-Duffy.
Australia’s Top 10 Most Congested Cities in 2015

City Congestion Level Extra Travel Per Year (Hours) Cost per vehicle per day No. of Commercial Vehicles Cost to Business
Sydney 36% 151 $11.24 375,669 $980.79M
Melbourne 29% 120 $8.93 420,025 $871.47M
Hobart 29% 109 $8.36 37,364 $70.42M
Perth 27% 102 $7.78 281,340 $496.17M
Adelaide 25% 93 $6.92 128,482 $206.60M
Brisbane 25% 100 $7.49 336,412 $581.66M
Gold Coast 23% 81 $6.05 72,035 $100.88M
Newcastle 21% 79 $5.76 16,866 $23.04M
Canberra 17% 70 $5.19 31,502 $38.13M
Wollongong 15% 49 $3.75 2,518 $2.13M
Australian Average 25% 95 $7.15 This is a total figure: $3.37bn

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