Have all the travel time savings on Melbourne' road network been achieved?

Abstract

The foremost economic benefit postulated and claimed for all road network investments is the value of travel time saved. This paper's aim is to empirically test whether the very substantial economic resources that have been consumed over the last two or so decades in the construction and use of major road network additions in Melbourne have helped to achieve the travel time savings which formed the main foundation of their economic justification. The study uses the annual traffic system monitoring data prepared by VicRoads for the monitored urban road network, and compares these actual data against the results for Melbourne's urban road system that were projected by various traffic modelling experts in the 1990s. In particular this study uses City Link as the case study to enable the comparison between such projections and actual traffic volumes and traffic behaviour. One of the key findings of this study is that the average whole of day speed on Melbourne's freeways overall has stayed at around the same level (78+ kms /hour) apart from 2000-01 (83.5 kms/ hour) and 2001-02 (79.5 kms' hour). Second, the average speed in kilometres per hour in both the morning and evening peak periods for the whole monitored urban network in the most recent year for which data are available — the year ended June 30 2007 — is the lowest it has been since 1994-95. Third, average travel speeds in inner Melbourne post the opening of City Link have reduced in both the morning and evening peaks. Even more concerning is the fact that average speeds across the whole day for both freeways and all types of arterial roads in the inner Melbourne