You’re probably acutely aware of how many minutes and seconds you lose to rush-hour traffic on the away from Gungahlin to work each day. But in case you wondered, it has now been worked out with an impressive degree of accuracy.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Gungahlin to the city takes you 7.8 minutes longer at rush hour than in “free-flow” traffic. If you’re going all the way through to Parliament House, make that 10.5 minutes.
For drivers, the most frustrating part of the commute is apparently from Exhibition Park to the city, where it takes nearly five minutes longer at peak hour than in free flow traffic.
The figures are in the Capital Metro agency’s draft rapid business case, not officially released but obtained by The Canberra Times. The document makes the case for the planned tram line.
It doesn’t say how long a tram will take to make the journey, but Capital Metro project manager Emma Thomas said in May the aim was a journey from Gungahlin to the city of 25 minutes or less.
It also does not say how long the drive takes, either in peak or "free-flow" traffic. But a 2012 "concept design" report on the light rail project said the average travel time from Gungahlin to the city during the morning rush hour was 26 minutes for general traffic and 28 minutes for the express Red Rapid bus.
A submission to Infrastructure Australia in the same year suggests the express bus took about 34 minutes at 8am, 22 minutes during the middle of the day, and 28 minutes in the late afternoon.
The rapid business case says there are about 3000 car trips southbound from Gungahlin to Exhibition Park for work each day for people who live and work in the corridor. Combined, they lose nearly 10,000 minutes a day to congestion.
It gets worst past Exhibition Park, where there are more than 5000 car trips a day, including people travelling further. Combined, they lose more than 25,000 minutes a day.
Beyond the city, the number of trips to work by car is much smaller and the time lost is much less significant.
Road congestion is expected to get worse over time as the population grows in Gungahlin making light rail more competitive when compared to travelling by bus or car - although the new Majura Parkway will also have an impact.
The rapid business case finds the 3km stretch from Exhibition Park to the city is the strongest section for light rail, taking into account traffic delays and also passenger numbers (as a proportion of distance – the extra 9km to Gungahlin adds passengers, but reduces the “passenger intensity”, given the extra distance).
The document suggests the government consider staging the tram line, building the section from Exhibition Park to the city first, with Gungahlin to come later. But Environment and Sustainable Development Minister Simon Corbell has ruled out the suggestion, insisting the government made a commitment to build the line from Gungahlin to the city and would do so.
