Geelong commute times to increase five-fold by 2040
Commute times in the booming growth area of Geelong and the Bellarine peninsula are set to increase almost five-fold within two decades according to new modelling. It's prompted calls for a rethink on public transport and sprawling urban centres.
Transcript
00:00 Jacqueline Nassuti lives less than 20 kilometres from her job on the Ballarine Peninsula, but
00:07 she has to catch two buses to get there.
00:11 It's taken me about two hours for me to get to work before, and that was only for a three
00:16 and a half hour shift.
00:18 The 19-year-old could ride her bike, but the 80 kilometre per hour roads don't fill her
00:24 with confidence.
00:25 You can, but not advised probably.
00:29 The Ballarine Peninsula has quickly gone from a summer holiday destination to a growing
00:34 outer hub of Geelong, but transport options in the region haven't kept pace.
00:40 New modelling from Geelong Regional Alliance shows by 2041 congestion on some roads into
00:45 Geelong from the east and south will increase by up to 500 per cent.
00:51 During the morning peak hour, a 17 kilometre trip from Kerr Lewis to Geelong CBD will increase
00:57 from 27 minutes to an hour.
01:00 It's less than 20 years away. We know that transport infrastructure takes a long time
01:05 to build, it's very expensive, and if you don't build it, the outcomes for this city
01:10 and region are really dire.
01:13 It means people like Sally Bird are leaving home earlier and earlier to beat the rush.
01:20 There's no public transport near her home in Golden Plains, so she drives her kids to
01:26 school which can take about an hour.
01:29 We just have to be out the door and in the car by at least 8 o'clock, if not a bit earlier,
01:34 just to beat that traffic.
01:35 Rather than building brand new infrastructure and brand new suburbs, one strategy being
01:40 proposed is to build more housing in already established areas like this, with existing
01:46 public transport routes that can be increased.
01:49 It is relatively cheaper to increase the service levels of that infrastructure compared to
01:54 building it all new in greenfield areas, but we have to unlock it with changes to planning
01:59 settings.
02:01 But until then, longer commutes loom for this booming region.
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