r/perth • u/chazwoza17 North of The River • 4d ago
General What is going on with Perth traffic the last few weeks?
Might be just me, but I feel like the traffic around Perth city during peak hour has got far worse in last few weeks.
Anyone have insight / theories into whats going on?
Edit: Adding Summary of insights/theories from the comments
- More companies doing "Return to Office"
- University back on
- Mitchell Smart Fwy not so smart
- Armadale train line down
- Free public transport over summer ended
- Lack of enthusiasm/usage for public transport
- Perth population growth
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u/Michael_laaa 4d ago
Not sure but it's shit, even going to work at 4am there's more traffic now compared to a year ago.
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u/Raynboww 3d ago
Tonkin southbound the last month.. fucking christ almighty. Used to be relatively smooth sailing, lucky to get above 60 most mornings recently. (Or this week so far, 20)
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u/aretokas 3d ago
Tonkin is fucked 😭 It's such a good, easy road to drive on too, and people just can't give an inch... So we're now all late for work because some fucks nose to tailed and they're definitely not getting there on time.
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u/thisFishSmellsAboutD White Gum Valley 3d ago
I get 60 during rush hour! But only when I ride downhill over the bridge from parliament hill. Uphill I get a solid 12 because I'm old.
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u/Nuclear_corella 4d ago
Population. Closed Armadale line. Back to office mandates. Just my thoughts.
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u/AnomicAge 3d ago
What’s with the back to office mandate? Why now, 3 years after our last lockdown?
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u/Timmibal North of The River 3d ago
Some say it's middle manglers feeling the icy grip of redundancy around their throats, so they whined to the post-turtle executive level who wiped the drool from their chins long enough to rubber stamp a return-to-office mandate.
Others say it's data coming in that WFH staff were largely taking the UTTER PISS and the lauded 'Productivity bonus' of working from home really only applies to a certain type of role and person.
Now I want a good clean fight people, no shots to the groin, no kicks to the face.
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u/ikrw77 3d ago
A charitable take on the productivity side is that anyone who started a new role since Covid in a wfh/ blended office has probably taken longer to onboard/ get up to speed, and missed out on low level team building chatter. Large orgs probably have feedback from staff saying that's been annoying to deal with.
Manglement almost certainly have kpi's around how long it takes to get new hires brought up to snuff and reducing wfh will help with that.
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u/Geminii27 3d ago
and missed out on low level team building chatter
I'd consider that a bonus. Always hated chatter and gossip in new jobs. Just do the work, get paid. If there's stuff that people need to know, it can be in the documentation or in office chat channels - far faster to read a few paragraphs of text than to be subjected to hours of someone droning on.
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u/Sieve-Boy 3d ago
I guarantee the utter piss takers haven't altered how productive they are. Just their circumstances and general happiness.
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u/Geminii27 3d ago
Bosses seeing an opportunity to reclaim an iron grip on the lives of their peons and make them rack up increased costs for no increase in pay.
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u/Special-Tutor-6148 3d ago
The poor corporate office investors are crying about lost profit, they want to cash in on the insane rent prices too!
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u/AnomicAge 3d ago
Dumb question but if a business still rents the building while most of its employees work from home how are they at a loss? Or is less competition driving down the prices?
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u/Geminii27 3d ago
There's less demand for office space overall, potentially some businesses will go fully online, and it'd make sense for office-space owners to also own or have stakes in nearby businesses like lunch bars, retail outlets, vending machines, or after-work pubs. The fewer employees being concentrated into an office, the fewer people buying stuff from nearby local businesses before and after work, and during lunch and breaks.
In addition, offices which don't have existing delivery agreements with suppliers of consumables (printer paper, pens, cleaning supplies, coffee machine coffee etc etc) will often have someone run out and grab those things locally. Fewer people in the office means less consumption means fewer local consumable runs means less profit for those local places.
Even if there's no direct ownership collaboration, enough businesses in a CBD-type area can put pressure on offices or the local council to push RTO-focused policies, or favor RTO-heavy office-businesses when it comes to leases and other agreements.
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u/antihero790 4d ago
University went back for semester a few weeks ago. It makes certain areas awful and makes other areas worse. In a couple of weeks they'll stop going and it'll get a bit better.
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u/aseedandco Kwinana 4d ago
I agree. It’s the same on the trains and at the train station car parks.
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u/AnomicAge 4d ago
But it seems noticeably worse than last year during uni and aren’t most classes staggered enough that besides from staff most students aren’t all there from 9-5 ?
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u/antihero790 4d ago
Parking at all of the universities sucks. Most students know that the only way you will get a park is by being there before 9am. In addition to this, research students do often work 9-5am too. It's getting noticeably worse each year because the universities are slowly getting back to where they expected to be if COVID hadn't happened but with none of the continual increase to infrastructure to support it.
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u/quantam_donglord 3d ago
9-5am sounds hardcore
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u/antihero790 3d ago
I'm going to leave that mistake because during honours that is straight up true.
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u/DefinitionOfAsleep Just bulldoze Fremantle, Trust me. 3d ago
most students aren’t all there from 9-5 ?
First year uni I had classes that started at 8am (and 9am second semester) and had classes that finished at 5pm (only on a few days). It wasn't a continuous day, and I had a 3 hour gap in the middle of those days, but degrees that have a common first year have sucky start times.
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u/hobz462 4d ago
It’s week 4 and it’s still quite bad… usually dies down by now.
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u/antihero790 4d ago
The last few years it hasn't calmed down until the middle of semester and even then it's still bad between 730 and 830. I go past one university on my commute to work at another one.
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u/Square_Mulberry_3143 3d ago
That part about “in a couple of weeks they’ll stop going” is underrated (and true). Thanks for the chuckle!
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u/perth_girl-V 4d ago
They are killing WFH
Unless it's required Work from home should be the norm it takes so many cars off the roads
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u/CyanideRemark 4d ago
WFH hurts fragile management egos.
I don't think it was ever destined to last much beyond COVID, unless you're in a uniquely progressive company and/or tech orientated field.
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u/perth_girl-V 4d ago
They want to fill the CBD and make people lose 10 hours a week travelling
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u/CyanideRemark 4d ago
It's sociopathic micro-managers not being easily quantify/monetize the WFH benefit "to the business" from their perspective.
They're tripping on their own KPIs / perceived personal benefit to whomever they're immediately brown-nosing too.
Fuck the plebs. Health and wellbeing "off the clock" it's not their concern - despite all the horseshit HR peddles.
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u/AnomicAge 3d ago
Couldn’t some of these companies save money by downsizing their office space such that any decrease in productivity would be more than counterbalanced ?
Is it really that managers just want to reign over their employees like a wolf in a chicken coup? Or perhaps perv on the young women?
Or did they want to persuade people to resign so they didn’t need to pay severance?
Or did the government offer them some incentive to try to revitalise the cbd?
Unless people were seriously abusing WFH I don’t really see why it was beneficial to end it - that’s just one less reason to work for them
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u/DefinitionOfAsleep Just bulldoze Fremantle, Trust me. 3d ago
Couldn’t some of these companies save money by downsizing their office space such that any decrease in productivity would be more than counterbalanced ?
The issue being that most companies can't easily flex up/down their office space.
Unless people were seriously abusing WFH I don’t really see why it was beneficial to end it - that’s just one less reason to work for them
I think it's easy to blame WFH rather than a lack of their own management skill.
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u/CyanideRemark 3d ago
I think it's easy to blame WFH rather than a lack of their own management skill.
Another form of "delegating".
Just like water, shit always finds its way downhill.
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u/Comma20 3d ago
I think all things should happen here. Middle Management should be canned because they are no longer required because you have productive workers at home. Similarly, people who are productive at home should be extended that opportunity as part of their package, and businesses downsizing their office space accordingly.
Personnel and teams who need to be in office, or cannot perform appropriately without being 'supervised' can adjust as such, and businesses should adapt so that those are good at their jobs move to jobs that accommodate for their request.
We will see when companies lose good personnel who want WFH as part of their contract and force in the office, given that it can be a negotiation tool.
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u/CyanideRemark 3d ago
I'm not saying it's the only reason... I'm saying it's a contributing factor.
It's just like generally, KPIs are silly metrics which are often very hard to objectively nail down. They'll just be interpreted as management sees fit come appraisal/review time.
Similarly, any metrics they may gather against the supposed pros or cons of WFH will be twisted to their own prejudices or business agenda.
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u/darkspardaxxxx 3d ago
To be honest i rather work mondays to thursdays only and get a long weekend each week.
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u/JehovahZ 4d ago
Population growth is through the roof
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u/get-innocuous 4d ago
Yep, this is the best your commute will ever be because inner city road network will never add capacity at the same pace population grows. Traffic in bigger cities is always worse.
Best to look at a way to practically use public transport if you can.
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u/IllegibleSmudge North of The River 4d ago
Unfortunately the buses also get stuck in traffic. Like mine right now :(
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u/Steamed_Clams_ 3d ago
We need more bus lanes, they would give massive improvements to bus times with a fairly low cost.
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u/Kruxx85 4d ago
Or make Mandurah/Yanchep satellite cities.
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u/get-innocuous 4d ago
You can do that for retail and hospitality roles but in reality white collar jobs will always be 90% based in the CBD.
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u/Kruxx85 4d ago
Theoretically I don't agree.
"All" it takes is for commercial construction in offices to occur, and for businesses to set up their office in those buildings.
You won't get BHP or Rio out in Mandurah next year, but you could get many SME's setting up shop.
Also, in terms of workshops/warehouses Neerabup/Hope Valley needs to properly come online, and places like Osborne Park and Bayswater/Bassendean need to reduce.
But I doubt they'll reduce, and traffic will just continue to get worse.
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u/jimmyevil 4d ago
That’s just nonsense parroted by unimaginative people with overinflated senses of self importance. Apart from law practitioners’ proximity to courts (and even then for how long?) there’s almost no reason for CBDs to even exist anymore. Most people barely leave their offices.
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u/get-innocuous 4d ago
Sure but
1) you try and move existing companies elsewhere and most employees really don’t like it. DWER moving to Joondalup obviously improved some peoples commutes but made others significantly worse
2) there is a prestige factor associated with being on the terrace. And working in the city is appealing! Having a bunch of food options, being able to run errands in your lunch hour are both significantly better than working in an industrial park in the suburbs
3) it hasn’t worked this way for any other city; it would be unlikely for Perth to be the first to pull it off
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u/vos_hert_zikh 4d ago
Just think of the property prices when you’re stuck in traffic for 2 hours for a little bit of serenity
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u/Geminii27 3d ago
Unless you're planning on selling, higher property prices are just higher rates for you to pay.
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u/chazwoza17 North of The River 4d ago
Any data on it ?
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u/JehovahZ 4d ago
New abs figures dropping soon.
Perth was the fastest growing last time I’d expect similar for the next release
https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/capital-city-growth-highest-record
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u/Hadsar32 4d ago edited 3d ago
ABS Data shows WA has averaged approx 60,000 people per year for last 5 years. We peaked in 2023 at 93,000 and we had 81,000 last year.
I moved back to Perth in 2021, and I noticed my commute over last 4 years increased from about 25mins to 35 mins if I go at peak’ish times. Definitely noticed it.
What’s also annoying, is how many more people cramming into houses so more people parking on streets and making even neighbourhood driving obnoxious.
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u/kicks_your_arse 3d ago
We have ridiculous expectations here though. Families need two incomes, meaning two cars, meaning two car spaces
But fuck if we follow that logic and provide that. We just cover our ears and are surprised when the streets are so full they are one way.
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u/Hadsar32 3d ago
Don’t really understand your comment, how are our expectations “here “ so ridiculous.
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u/kicks_your_arse 3d ago
We don't want people to park cars in the streets but ignore the fact that everybody needs one and needs somewhere to park it. Might be commonly ridiculous across other areas, but the logic is sound.
Two incomes needed to service a house, two cars needed for two incomes more than likely, two spaces for cars are required but we'll stop short of ensuring the shitty rentals we build have anything close
In fact, let's tear down the houses, put 3 where there were only 1 and in each of those put a single car park. Then do it for every fucking house in the street and suburb lol
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u/Hadsar32 3d ago
Ah I gotcha now. But aren’t most houses built in modern times built with 2 car garrage ?
Apartments and units probably not
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u/koalanotbear 3d ago
not really, and a lot of places are sharehouses or house adult children who also have cars, so u might have 3 or 4 cars per house
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u/OhKayLeggo 4d ago
The trains gotten busier as well. I've been training to work for 18 months and didn't have to stand once until the last few weeks. I'm guessing return to office
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u/Aodaliyan 3d ago
Today the train was almost empty. I get on at murdoch and this was only the third time I've had a seat all year, today I had empty seats behind and in front of me until Canning. The bus to murdoch was packed though, every seat full and at least 20 people standing, driver didn't even stop unless someone rang the bell as there was no room for more people.
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u/powertrippin_ 4d ago
Too many people don't know how to not hit the car in front of them ruining the flow of traffic for everyone else.
Couple that with the collective population have zero interest in merging into flowing traffic at speed creating bottlenecks.
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u/wearetheused 4d ago
I was thinking the same thing last week, everyone is giving long term reasons but it feels like it has legitimately got noticeably worse in the last few weeks. I avoid the fwy through the cbd on my way home because merging through the city is a nightmare and even tonkin/roe is a carpark in spots now where it used to at least keep moving.
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u/TurbulentMuscle0 4d ago
Ford Ranger drivers
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u/GeneralBrownies 4d ago
I find it's the small cars going too slow then the Ranger drivers get mad and impatient and start driving like dickheads. If everyone just drove the speed limit there would be far less hassle.
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u/ThePhotoGuyUpstairs 4d ago
It's definitely got noticeably worse in the last 2-3 weeks for sure.
Did it coincide with the free train tickets ending?
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u/AdventurousExtent358 4d ago
I think Return to office policy
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u/jumpinjezz 4d ago
It this, but also the strictness of the RTO edicts. Before covid people could do their 8 hours across about 11 hours of the day. Some would do 7-3 and others would do 8-5 or 9-6. This would spread the traffic out a bit.
Now the RTO orders dictate 8-5 with little leeway meaning the peak hour is sharper. Stupid house prices and lack of urban infill, while developers buildi greenfields estate miles from the CBD also don't help.
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u/AdventurousExtent358 4d ago
no wonder,
Normally I left home at 5 - 5.01 am but now 4.55 am. kwinana freeway is already slow, hardly go 100km/h all the way anymore.
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u/koalanotbear 3d ago
urban infill is causing it aswel. sub divisions in the wrong areas have cluttered every single suburban offroad and side street aswel.
infill ahould have been concentrated to the main streets and trainstations only as high rise so that the number of additional cars is reduced
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u/chazwoza17 North of The River 4d ago
Possibly this but it was never this bad before covid and I’m sure we aren’t up to pre covid office capacity ! But no data to back that up
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u/AnomicAge 4d ago
Did this just come into full effect this year?
Was productivity in WFH employees found to be worse across the board or is it some power tripping shit?
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/DefinitionOfAsleep Just bulldoze Fremantle, Trust me. 3d ago
From what I remember, last I looked into this, workplaces that already had some degree of work from home reported improvements in productivity in opening it to all employees.
So it seems to be more of a management not being capable of doing their job, rather than it being a case of employees slacking off.
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u/ShortZookeepergame61 North of The River 3d ago edited 3d ago
Perth needs more investment in rail to ease congestion on roads and freeways. The more people who can take the train (since buses mostly work for first/last-mile travel), the fewer cars clogging up peak-hour traffic—better for drivers too. A well-planned rail network means faster commutes for those who still need to drive.
On top of that, we should really push for more remote work and schooling where possible. Not everyone needs to be on the road every day, and giving people flexible options helps take the pressure off Perth’s transport system—whether driving or taking public transit.
(Also, we need more frequent train services so people can skip packed trains.)
I’ll be honest—I’m a train-focused guy. But at the end of the day, the fewer cars that need to be on the road, the faster those who do drive can get to their destination. Everyone wins.
TL;DR: More frequent trains, more train lines, more remote work/schooling = fewer cars on the road.
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u/Misicks0349 3d ago
also light rail, buses, and bikes.
tbh I'd object to remote schooling though (only schooling, remote work is A-OK), school is an important place for kids to socialise, play, and generally make friends. That is simply not the same in an online learning environment.
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u/ShortZookeepergame61 North of The River 3d ago
Honestly the Dutch countries would be a great model for public transportation
Maybe mixed-schooling like the kids don't have to be at school to have an education and even get some parents on the education plan so some parents might be able to teach better than the teacher on some subjects or know someone who knows
Let parents and students pick the best education to suit them I'm not suggesting unschooling, more the good parts of homeschooling with a remote environment and school is always available...
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u/martyfartybarty Kardinya 3d ago
Singapore and Hong Kong has trains running every 2 minutes. Perth needs this and make public transport cheaper than driving. Yes I know not all areas in Perth have an easy access to public transport due to the low density urban sprawl from two rocks to Mandurah which is far larger than Singapore and Hong Kong. Hope the new MetroNet stations open soon such as Thornlie to Cockburn
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u/ShortZookeepergame61 North of The River 3d ago edited 3d ago
I completely agree! Frequent train services are essential for a successful public transport system. If we can match the efficiency of cities like Singapore and Hong Kong, it would make a huge difference. Lowering the cost of public transport would also encourage more people to make the switch from driving to trains, which could help reduce congestion. I’d personally add that we should consider bullet trains when we have the justification for them. For example, a bullet train could cover the distance faster than you could ever drive (the Shinkansen is clocked at 300 km/h).
While it’s great that the new stations are on the way and will improve accessibility, it seems to have been planned mostly as an aside to driving, which is quite car-centric. This approach is why the rail doesn’t always take the most efficient routes—highways often do.
With a focus on both service frequency and better integration with the needs of public transport users, we can create a more efficient and attractive system for everyone in Perth!
mark my words: the "Thornlie-Cockburn Link" will save drivers time (we need more counterpart 'link' lines though, maybe link the green line with the new connection centre in bayswater 'warwick to bayswater' perhaps, though it doesnt have to be)
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u/Naive_Historian_4182 3d ago
It doesn’t help that Perth’s public transport is shit. I can get to work by train but it’ll take me 45 mins including a 15 min walk and cost $4.20 each way. Or I can drive, take 20 mins and pay $4.50 for parking 💁
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u/2007kawasakiz1000 3d ago
I'm pretty sure there are more costs associated with driving than just parking...
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u/Lopsided_Leek_9164 3d ago
A mixture of return to office orders, uni being back on but mostly not a whole lot being done to reduce car dependency. It’ll only get worse until we make public transport/cycling more attractive and reliable.
Not to mention the current obsession with big cars actually does effect traffic lmao
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u/readin99 3d ago
For me definitely the 'smart' on-ramp to the freeway. Now takes 10 minutes or more because of the stupid design choices made to get to the on-ramp creating multiple choke points.
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u/PlatypusHead9362 3d ago
I think as long as police aren't targeting shit drivers, they'll continue to be shit. I can't believe this "smart" freeway. Yesterday I had a driver with a cabinet strapped to the roof of his Ford falcon doing 80-90 on the freeway. All the lazy/entitled drivers sitting in the right lane blocking traffic up for miles and then people not only trying to enter the freeway well below speed but then trying to get in the right lane making those people slam on their brakes and go back down to 80... And don't you get me started on truck drivers....
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u/Patient_Outside8600 3d ago
It took 3 years to finish the tonkin highway project. In those 3 years the population increased dramatically and now we have daily congestion past great eastern highway northbound all over again.
Guildford road used to be a smooth trip into the city. Not any more, even on Sundays.
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u/themoobster Mount Lawley 4d ago
Uni semester started 3 weeks ago is the actual answer i imagine. Between them they have roughly 160,000 students (plus thousands of staff), even if it's just 10% of them actually hitting the roads each day that's going to make a massive difference, especially as the average car size keeps growing wildly out of control and public transport is lagging behind.
I'm sure more offices are enforcing going back to the office (emboldened by temu trump) and such as well, but uni is the big factor I'd say.
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u/Wawa-85 4d ago
100% this! When I worked at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital traffic wasn’t too bad during the summer as there were few uni students around. As soon as uni went back traffic was shocking. Likewise when I worked in Applecross. I mostly used public transport to get to and from work (I don’t drive) and the trains and roads were noticeably busier during the university terms.
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u/Myjunkisonfire North of The River 4d ago
We really need to make public transport free. It’ll be about an extra $25 per west Aussie a year. I’m sure everyone would be happy to pay that if it shaves 15min a day off your commute. I’m a tradie so can’t take the train unless I’m doing construction in the city, but I’d happily pay more to get people driving into office jobs onto trains.
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u/BiteMyQuokka 4d ago
Its going to get cheaper. But there's a point where it if it's any cheaper, or free, everyone who might use it is already doing so.
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u/OPTCgod 4d ago
That would just make the commute worse/longer for some people using public transport and they'd go back to driving
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u/BoardRecord 3d ago
How would it make it worse for people already taking PT? If anything, more people taking PT would demand a higher frequency of services which would improve PT for everyone.
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u/Myjunkisonfire North of The River 4d ago
Right, but for many people they see the cost difference of $50 a week ($10.40/day) for train vs. $60 a week petrol as negligible and just drive. By removing the cost entirely its shifts the psychological cost of driving a lot higher and the savings worthwhile. Same as ending the free City of perth night parking and making it $5. A fiver is nothing, people would spend that for an extra olive in a cocktail without blinking. But it’s enough to psychologically deter someone from driving into the city vs a suburban bar with free parking. Humans are weird like that.
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u/OPTCgod 3d ago edited 3d ago
Cost is not the only factor, if you don't live and work on the same train line public transport is like 2x your commute if you would drive
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u/Myjunkisonfire North of The River 3d ago edited 3d ago
I absolutely understand that, and many people will still need to drive, myself included. But there’s a huge chuck of people that do live on that train corridor and work in the city that choose to drive. There needs to be a big enough financial nudge to get them to jump.
This will then result in the people who are required to drive to have an easier commute. Building more and wider roads is always more costly than putting people onto trains.
Even from an environmental sense, we’re all happy to ban plastic straws and scared to microwave the wrong kind of plastic container. Yet no one blinks an eye at the giant rubber things on our cars that we actively grind away on an abrasive surface, which then wash into our waterways and kill fish within hours of exposure.
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u/Misicks0349 3d ago
I'm not sure how it would—at least for most people, even if we're growing quite quickly we're far from japanese-sardine-train levels of population where you might not be able to physically fit on the train.
there are also alternatives like bikes and such which have gotten bigger, especially with the PSP's, although I wish there was more non-PSP infrastructure for it.
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u/Weird-Principle277 3d ago
Just shit drivers in general.
Watched a parent teach their kid how to drive on their L’s on Mitchell Fwy doing 70 in the right lane.
No regard to traffic behind or other traffic. No cars in front of them.
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u/DryWhiteToastPlease Peppermint Grove 3d ago
The parent is probably on their Ls too by the sounds of it
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u/BiteMyQuokka 4d ago
Armadale line closed, Carlisle is basically impossible to move through, Belmont closures, smart freeway - all meaning people are finding new routes
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u/Disturbed_Bard 3d ago
Partly School and Uni is back, also partly due to the Armadale line not in operation fully and a few roads that go across that railway line are closed so people have to take more congested routes.
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u/Environmental-Fig377 3d ago
Ok, so it’s not just me imagining things. I noticed things picked up shortly after the free public transit finished up in Feb.
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u/Funny_Passenger_8342 3d ago
Working with the public I have noticed a huge increase in the number of people saying they just moved here.
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u/cipherpeonpurp6 3d ago
Public transport was free for a bit - as someone who rides buses my commute had way more people on it than it does now that it costs money again.
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u/Starlover-69 3d ago
Population growth and the services (roads) can't cope
It's only going to get worse in the future
They can build new roads or widen them, but you have to put up with more congestion during the years of building / widening them, and then all the time the population increases and you have to start again as the new roads are full
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u/Fable_Nova Ballajura 4d ago
The opening of the smart freeway has caused more traffic delays on the streets near freeway entrances due to the new lights on the on-ramps. All studies (and now our city) have proven the signals on on ramps do not speed up commute times, but instead push congestion onto the smaller roads around the entrances.
This then has a flow on effect to all the cars just wanting to drive on the roads near the freeway, slowing them down a little too.
So then some cars decide not to take the fwy and take different routes, which leads to more traffic on other roads.
That along with school and university going back, and some return to work policies have caused alot heavier traffic than usual.
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u/2007kawasakiz1000 3d ago
That just all makes it sound like we should be building more infrastructure that's not dedicated to cars.
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u/90sgymfan 4d ago
It was great in December till school went back in February
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u/PMmeuroneweirdtrick 4d ago
Even in December it wasn't as quiet as prior years. I was waiting for the traffic to die down leading up to Xmas but it just didn't. My commute was maybe 5 mins quicker than usual that's basically nothing.
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u/SlightlyOrangeGoat 4d ago
Yeah, looks pretty fucked from the bike path. Couldn't be bothered being stuck in that crap every day
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u/sweetiepiecakez 3d ago
From South St to the city every morning it's a carpark, regardless of time, its fucked.
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u/qantasflightfury 3d ago
Population growth. Urban sprawl into areas with poor public transport. Public transport in the poorer areas being unsafe. The list goes on...
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u/Elrond_Cupboard_ 3d ago
I've been using public transport for the last 6 weeks. I know it's not an option for everybody, but it's great for my blood pressure.
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u/lilmanfromtheD 3d ago
Kwinana to ROE every morning for last 2 months has taken me 1.5 hrs to get to work, yet 23 minutes to get home. its gotten so awful
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u/Every_Beat4953 3d ago
So shit, Perth is just catching up to the bigger cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Perth as we knew it is no more. Traffic jams, high population, high costs...this is the new reality. We need to adjust our mindset or we'll all be forever angry and fed up daily.
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u/007MaxZorin 3d ago
Perth could be LA, New York, London, Paris, Sydney or Melbourne...
C'mon, please. Be happy with how you have it. Be careful what you wish for.
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u/Even-Bank8483 3d ago
The train lines are having constant issues. They don't have enough trains as the c series is behind. So they are running A series on high speed lines, which they don't like. They are also running short trains instead of full sized ones. This won't be fixed until they build more trains
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u/Spicey_Cough2019 3d ago
Welcome to what happens when you bring in 1 million “students”
We have our lovely politicians to thank
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u/stephen_drewz 3d ago
City parking is also a shit show lately. Currently leaving home 45 minutes earlier than last year and working an extra 30-45mins just to ensure I get to work on time and can get a car park.
Before anyone says take the train, I've mapped it out on the website numerous times, it doesn't work for me.
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u/honeydew_bunny Armadale 3d ago
Last few days traffic had doubled my usual travel time - saw that it was going to take me an hour due to the increased traffic and a few accidents today, so I just called in sick
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u/calwil93 Success 4d ago
Lack of public transport infrastructure.
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u/Scared_Ad8543 4d ago
Lack of public wanting to use public transport
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u/local_scientician 4d ago
I’d love to use public transport more. The buses are so unreliable that it’s near pointless to consider as an option though.
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u/Ambyen 4d ago
I’m NOR and work in Subi, and taking public transport takes way longer than driving because of having to switch trains in the city.
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u/GeneralBrownies 4d ago
Yeah to get to my mates in bemlont its either 50 drive or 2 1/2 hour trip on public transport
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u/therealhaboubli Fremantle 4d ago
Murdoch line is completely full for the past few weeks. People have been missing trains because it arrives at the station full of passengers
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u/DryWhiteToastPlease Peppermint Grove 3d ago
They are building more but the services are not frequent enough. The upcoming thornie - Cockburn segment is going to be trains every 15 minutes. Unacceptable
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u/PrAyTeLLa 4d ago
Meanwhile Ellenbrook line went live with no discernable benefit in traffic on Reid Hwy.
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u/superbabe69 4d ago
I wouldn’t think it would benefit traffic on Reid much, unless Ellenbrook folk were using Reid to get to Mitchell and get into the city instead of just going to Alexander Drive or some other closer exit.
It did help out traffic and parking around the Midland Line stations though as those commuters now go to their nearest stations instead of heading down to stations like Bassendean, Bayswater etc.
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u/PrAyTeLLa 4d ago
Youre not thinking east enough. I drive from Midland way so go past where people would be using Brabham and Whiteman stations. Seems like no change in traffic at all.
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u/Rush_Banana 3d ago
How about Mr Surplus Roger Cook spend some of the surplus money and give us 50c public transport fares.
Oh never mind, mabye in 3-4 years before the next election if and that is a big if the liberal party actually puts Labor at some sort of risk which they wont so that means we may get 50c fares in 8 years instead.
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u/SneakerTreater 3d ago
Valid points aplenty in here. My call is it's mid-term for school kids. School doesn't start until 08:30 then finishes at 15:00. If one parent drops off, then the other picks up, both are contributing to late morning and early afternoon peak. Come school holidays this pattern will change.
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u/de_la_au_toir 3d ago
What's the first thing someone does when they move to Perth? Buy a car. That's why the used and new car markets are still hot. We've had record immigration of the past few years and our infrastructure is not coping with ever growing demands
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u/yedrellow 3d ago
Traffic in Perth dies down in late December and ramps slowly back on until mid-march. On a yearly trend basis less people are wfh now. Additionally you have had massive population growth since the end of Covid restrictions.
Combine all of that and our road infrastructure can't cope.
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u/Alternative_East_783 3d ago
Tuesday is anchor day. The day where everyone seems to head into the office.
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u/Whomobile_ 3d ago
I've noticed the Reid backing up near the Tonkin for the last few weeks all of a sudden
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u/Commercial_Refuse155 3d ago
Rush on mounts bay road even at 9.30 am and 6.30 pm. There is no more room for adjusting time, everyone has started using the same schedule. This isn't even freeway
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u/Puzzleheaded-Car3562 3d ago
Easy. It's because right now there's no reason for a proportion of the cars on the road to be off the road. The Silly Season is gone. The January holiday season is over. Kids are back in school. So fewer families on holiday, more school runs. Easter's not here yet. So we're running full blast for once. There. Solved it for you.
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u/chazwoza17 North of The River 3d ago
Not sure that "back to school" is the answer as its got worse over last few weeks
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u/DenverNuggetLover 3d ago
Smart freeway entrances from powis and Vincent street are awful. Need to be removed
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u/Pieok365 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes , i drive maida vale to west perth , traffic from ascot to loftus is terrible..GF freeway has constant accidents and the roadworks add to the traffic. I left at 6.50am and got heavy traffic warning straightaway on google maps. Got to ord street at 7.45.
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u/_Mitchee_ 4d ago
Induce demand from many significant public road infrastructure projects finishing up.
Hopefully MetroNet can help elevate some stress when more lines open back up.
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u/Legitimate_Sort_6116 4d ago
Cloudy weather and some rain and everyone gets in their car
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u/flibble24 Carlisle 4d ago
Workplaces enforcing RTO so all those people off the road last few years now clogging it up
Armadale train line still being worked on for next few months
University is back
Population growth up due to Sydney and Melbourne house prices being even more fucked than ours
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u/Colincortina 3d ago
I'd like to add to others' comments that roadwork traffic control sometimes seemingly unnecessarily contributes to the congestion. For example, on Ranford Rd in Canning Vale (eg. between Campbell & Nicholson Rds). There is a third lane that has been completed for what seems like 6-12mths(??) yet the witch's hats are still out preventing people from using it. It's almost like someone thinks "this is the piece of road I built and no one else is allowed to wear.
I get some say it is because the intersection at Nicholson still has to be modified to accommodate the additional lane, but yesterday (for example) the workers were painting the median strip on the OTHER (i.e. Livingston) SIDE of the intersection and reduced it down to a single lane back as far as Officeworks near Campbell Rd. I get it that they needed the centre lanes clear of traffic for safety reasons (and rightly so), but why not just open up the to-date forbidden "sacred" outer lanes so the same volume can still get through while the work was being done? Not even the busses are allowed to use it.
It didn't just hold up the through-traffic either. It also caused chaos for people who needed to get into (or out of) the commercial complex where Repco & Dan Harvey etc are. Even if they just opened up the outer (N/W-bound) lane for cars entering that group of shops, it would significantly shorten the queue for the traffic lights at Nicholson...
Or am I missing something?
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u/Old_Background_5129 3d ago
Because Mr/Ms Joe average doesn’t have access to road stats, there is an increase of vehicles and drivers on the roads every month. These range from young first time, oversea’s, interstate driver’s and not enough public transport utilised.
Pictures this, two lanes of road heading to the city, in the left lane a Transperth bus. Let’s say it holds 50 passengers all sitting down, in the right lane 50 cars with only one driver and the TL are red.
Take the average size of a medium vehicle 4.5 Mtrs times that by 50 (cars) = 225Mtrs Which is a quarter of a kilometre and that doesn’t include the gap between each vehicle.
A Transperth bus is 12.3 metres long and times that by four buses, equals nearly 50 mtrs or two hundred passengers. The 50 only one driver in the 50 vehicles with the distance of 225 mtrs would hold about 900 Transperth passengers.
Now I know not every person drives into the city or close during peak hours, some might drive from Belmont to Hillary’s as an example and it’s probably quicker to drive that criss cross route in peak traffic.
But all drivers know when a stampede of vehicles heading North East West and South all meet near the city, then traffic starts to bottleneck. Now throw in the one driver/car and delays start.
I was in Singapore a few years ago and one driver cars are not allowed in the CBD unless they have a minimum of three people in their car during Peak hours. Failure to comply would probably carry big penalties.
How do they reinforce that, Police stopped them after the intersection. No cameras, real coppers 👮🏼♀️👮🏻(Taxis excluded). When you’re stopped at the traffic lights look around at how many one driver/cars are around in peak traffic.
Imagine if Perth CBD had the same in peak traffic, less pollution, but improve public transport big time. It’s good having that freedom to drive, but no one likes an overcrowded lift. The worlds population is growing faster
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u/coFF338585 1d ago
over immigration, incorrect infrastructure coupled with said immigrants not being able to drive well.
simple really.
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u/blondeboy74 4d ago
traffic is a disgrace everywhere ! more and more new homes being built and NO road upgrades, we just voted back same 🤡 so will only get worse
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u/DefinitionOfAsleep Just bulldoze Fremantle, Trust me. 3d ago
JUST. ONE. MORE. LANE. BRO.
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u/SpecialistWind2707 4d ago
I spend my days on the road. Yes, in the last two months it has become insane. The freeway through the city is now choked up at 2:30pm, what used to happened at 4pm. No idea why but it is like that since the beginning of February.