Spectre Posted 13February, 2019 Report Share Posted 13February, 2019 This could be a vent for the grumpy old men. Particulary those in Melbourne It took me nearly 40mins to drive from Malvern to Hawthorn, admittedly at school pick up time. Thats about the same distance as Rose Bay to Kings Cross. So aside from making kiddies cath trams, what can we do? Heres a few. Remove level crossings Get cyclists to ride on the bike paths Ban parking within 75meters from an intersection Remove red arrows - dumbest invention ever Teach women in European SUVs to drive Force Private school kiddies to catch public transport Limit the access Ford Rangers have to north/south roads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 13February, 2019 Report Share Posted 13February, 2019 Or move to Cororooke/Colac 😁 Spectre 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstone Posted 13February, 2019 Report Share Posted 13February, 2019 I have a related question. What are school drop offs teaching children? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzieman Posted 13February, 2019 Report Share Posted 13February, 2019 Don't even think about moving to Hobart. It doesn't help that it's a city built in a sea and around a mountain of some of the hardest rock known. So , no tunnels/bypasses. Something's gotta change. Don't mention uber drones either. And get those chumpy precious kids mobile again! Spectre 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted 13February, 2019 Report Share Posted 13February, 2019 Come to Sydney and find out about traffic and toll roads .........nothing like paying hard earned money $$ to sit in grid lock..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzieman Posted 13February, 2019 Report Share Posted 13February, 2019 City living sucks. Luckily I have a relatively short commute , flexible hours & and shop mostly online. Oh and the kids have outgrown school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 13February, 2019 Report Share Posted 13February, 2019 Adelaide is gradually getting worse, though not to Melbourne and Sydney levels. I'm currently working at a decent sized development 3 minutes from the city on a major road that is chockas every morning already, yet I'm told they're putting in another set of lights and 2 pedestrian crossing lights which will lead directly to 2 more bus stops being created to increase commuters time stuck in traffic. Clever Near me, we have a main intersection, then less than 100 metres away they installed a pedestrian crossing for the bike track and supermarket people traffic, then 100 metres further on is another pedestrian crossing. It creates horrendous traffic snarls (for Adelaide anyway) and blocks the main intersection. Now what uses the road more, cars or pedestrians? Smart? Noooooo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tips Posted 13February, 2019 Report Share Posted 13February, 2019 Agree I hate the fact they put Multiple traffic lights in the same stretch of road because pedestrians won’t walk 100m to cross and might get run over... let the play dodge ball if they are stupid enough too. Having driven around LA over the past few weeks the volume of traffic is nuts. A couple of things that do work well I’ve noticed is letting cars make a safe turn at red lights into near side lane ie for us a left turn. Certainly helps keep traffic flowing. Freeways!!! No tolls on most highways so people use them and not like SYDNEY where everyone is avoiding tolls and choke streets around toll roads 🙄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzieman Posted 13February, 2019 Report Share Posted 13February, 2019 Right now there are highly qualified (perhaps overqualified) traffic engineers chowing down their second pencil for the day puzzling over WTF to do. Keep the suggestions flowing lads , and Victor-y will be ours LeeM and firstone 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JV911 Posted 13February, 2019 Report Share Posted 13February, 2019 12 hours ago, Raven said: Come to Sydney and find out about traffic and toll roads .........nothing like paying hard earned money $$ to sit in grid lock..... Most of the tolls are arse-about e.g. you should be charged to enter the CBD, and the tunnel should be free. 6 hours ago, Tips said: Agree I hate the fact they put Multiple traffic lights in the same stretch of road because pedestrians won’t walk 100m to cross and might get run over... let the play dodge ball if they are stupid enough too. Speaking of lights, a lot of intersections would benefit from right turn arrows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 Think its all just set up to maximize profits from the Sydney motorist .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JV911 Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 32 minutes ago, Raven said: Think its all just set up to maximize profits from the Sydney motorist .... But then there are a number of tolls which the state government rebates. What incentive is there to catch public transport? Again it's arse-about - they should be rebating public transport fares, not tolls. firstone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalai Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 I find it ironic when people sitting in their mostly single occupant cars are complaining about traffic... Reality the horse bolted long ago with huge population growth and minimal upgrades to the roads and particularly public transport network! Estimates suggest Melbourne's population will continue to grow further - from the already too big 5 million in Melbourne to 8 million by 2051! Only way congestion could be curtailed will be by introducing a high user pays congestion charge zone for greater Melbourne like in London. Be careful what you wish for! tazzieman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstone Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 Years ago i was managing traffic vs pedestrians in Byron Bay for the xmas new year period. Right in the main centre at the johnson st roundabout. A not so polite pedestrian waiting for traffic said, " how long are we gunna have to wait? Where are all these cars coming from? " I asked him how he got into town. Ian718 and Spectre 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakroo Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 I'd suggest they floated in to Byron Bong, along with most of the other people there. No car traffic when you're flying high........... man. LeeM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavn Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 Our road space has a fixed upper limit (which we seem to be hitting) so we are now paying with time and sometimes money in tolls. Unless the upper boundary is moved (and most studies seem to indicate that when roads are added, rates of usage increase to match) we are stuck. Alternatively, invest in effective mass transit and place incentives on traveling outside of peak times, although that doesn't help with school drop off. We recently changed our kids schools as we were collectively tired of the 35 min commute each way twice a day. We are two weeks in and far happier as a family. Aside from the time back in our daily lives, the lack of 'hassle/edge/intensity' from the morning and afternoon has completely changed the household dynamic. Admittedly this is not an answer for everyone but it sure was for us (drove 7.8km today & planning on making that a high point of the week....had to go to the nursery to get some plants). I love driving for pleasure but commuting in traffic entirely drains the soul. firstone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstone Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 7 hours ago, Gavin (CliffToCoast) said: Our road space has a fixed upper limit (which we seem to be hitting) so we are now paying with time and sometimes money in tolls. Unless the upper boundary is moved (and most studies seem to indicate that when roads are added, rates of usage increase to match) we are stuck. Alternatively, invest in effective mass transit and place incentives on traveling outside of peak times, although that doesn't help with school drop off. We recently changed our kids schools as we were collectively tired of the 35 min commute each way twice a day. We are two weeks in and far happier as a family. Aside from the time back in our daily lives, the lack of 'hassle/edge/intensity' from the morning and afternoon has completely changed the household dynamic. Admittedly this is not an answer for everyone but it sure was for us (drove 7.8km today & planning on making that a high point of the week....had to go to the nursery to get some plants). I love driving for pleasure but commuting in traffic entirely drains the soul. This is what i was alluding to with my earlier question, hassle/edge/intensity. I see children absorbing this vib at the start of their day then front the school environment which has it's own intensity which seems to have increased in recent years. Not to mention it bringing out some very childish behavior of there role models. Why drop the kids off? Our country town and surrounding area has a great school bus system that is paid for from the public purse. I'm told by the bus companies that they are paid wether the child uses the bus or not. Bus drivers say the level of personal drop offs has increased dramatically and now presents an additional challenge to them to make their schedules. They get penalized for late drop offs. Spectre and Gavn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 Something something immigration rates? Traffic is merely a proxy for people. Continually importing people to increase density in cities is the root cause. It’s about the only thing I agree with dick smith on. Agreed on the - backwards incentives on tolls on the highways while the congested streets are free. And instituting school buses to reduce school traffic. Most of the student population of the USA gets to school in a big yellow bus - safely and reliably. Congestion around schools is generally pretty limited because of the buses. Spectre 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre Posted 14February, 2019 Author Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 30 minutes ago, Coastr said: Something something immigration rates? Traffic is merely a proxy for people. Continually importing people to increase density in cities is the root cause. It’s about the only thing I agree with dick smith on. Agreed on the - backwards incentives on tolls on the highways while the congested streets are free. And instituting school buses to reduce school traffic. Most of the student population of the USA gets to school in a big yellow bus - safely and reliably. Congestion around schools is generally pretty limited because of the buses. Down here the buses at school drop offs are black X5s and the drivers wear 2XU and North Face Agrre that congestion needs to be managed whollistically, not just roads and cars but how we manage them and all the other users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzieman Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 2 hours ago, firstone said: Bus drivers say the level of personal drop offs has increased dramatically Is that like personalised drop offs? Gawd we'll be looking at bespoke drop offs next. Methinks some of the parents should be dropped off somewhere remote, just to concentrate their skull blancmanges. Soft boiled adults aren't going to cope in the world of the future. firstone, Spectre and Troubleshooter 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgy Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 I'm mellow, easy going most the time... until I am driving in traffic, and by no means do I drive aggressively, but it just makes my blood boil.. The stupidity, selfishness, lack of education and entitlement of a lot of drivers is a big cause of congestion. I was coming back from the club drive down to Gerringong last Sunday, and decided we would come back up through the highlands and hit the motorway home at Mittagong... I must have just passed pheasants nest before the hume highway was a car park, as suspected, no incident, just a combination of traffic volume and idiots sitting in the passing/overtaking lane, even when it cleared up around Campbelletown (due to the 3 lanes) I did all my passing on left lanes, literally because people insist on driving in the right lane at the speed limit or under it. Drives seem to be either nervous wrecks who don't commit, or super aggressive.. there doesn't seem to be a middle ground.I blame a lot of it on the licensing system, its too easy to get a license here, then we have bad drivers teaching their young and perpetuating the cycle. Oh and then there is whole speeding kills propaganda, which causes people to be on the edge of their seat driving in case they do 1km over... speeding doesn't kill, bad decisions whilst driving kill, speeding worsens the ramifications of the incident. Spectre, Gavn, GC9911 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JV911 Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 24 minutes ago, edgy said: Drives seem to be either nervous wrecks who don't commit, or super aggressive.. there doesn't seem to be a middle ground.I blame a lot of it on the licensing system, its too easy to get a license here, then we have bad drivers teaching their young and perpetuating the cycle. Hear, hear! And far too easy to keep your licence it would seem. Take that knob who ploughed into the RBT cops while texting. He had lost his licence, not one or twice, but four times! 2 hours ago, Coastr said: Something something immigration rates? Like when my grandparents came here (one of my grandfathers worked on the snowy hydro scheme), new immigrants should have to spend time in country towns. That will both easy congestion in big cities and breathe life into remote areas. There is no silver bullet for fixing congestion - it needs a combination of good mass transit, better roads, decentralisation, and population control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 Its a friggin joke the roads in and out of Sydney .........the major motorways are banked up bumper to bumper daily The Sydney road network just cannot cope with the volume of cars on it,,Sunday afternoon and the Hume Hwy can not cope with traffic ,,a major road ,,,,see it all the time coming back from Wakefield park on Sundays around 4pm ,,,we pay outrages toll fees ,,rego ,greenslips,,traffic fines are just too much and go straight in RMS pockets ,,The road user gets screwed hard ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 17 minutes ago, JV911 said: new immigrants should have to spend time in country towns. That will both easy congestion in big cities and breathe life into remote areas. I have another idea on that, though it's too controversial for the politically correct Adelaide is pretty easy to get around compared to the other capital cities in Oz, and we have no tolls etc (yet), but school drop off's are just a bunch of myopic dickheads driving SUV's assembled in one area at one time to dump the kids, so that they can get to their hair/nail appointment or catch up with their Sharon's and Tracey's for a latte...and probably park very badly taking up 2 parking spots at the same time firstone and JV911 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson59 Posted 14February, 2019 Report Share Posted 14February, 2019 2 hours ago, LeeM said: I have another idea on that, though it's too controversial for the politically correct Adelaide is pretty easy to get around compared to the other capital cities in Oz, and we have no tolls etc (yet), but school drop off's are just a bunch of myopic dickheads driving SUV's assembled in one area at one time to dump the kids, so that they can get to their hair/nail appointment or catch up with their Sharon's and Tracey's for a latte...and probably park very badly taking up 2 parking spots at the same time Reality is school drop off slow down to 10km/h so kids can get out so mum can get to work on time . I don't know anyone that fits that stereotype. I walk to work to keep my inner grumpy old man at bay . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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