Managing congestion – Are we willing to pay the price?

A number of authors have written on the topic of congestion, both pointing out that it is not necessarily wholly undesirable, and also that it may not be susceptible to being reduced, let alone eliminated. Nevertheless, concerns continue to be raised about the costs of congestion, both to freight and passenger movements, and solutions tend to be put forward mainly in terms of capacity increases at particular congestion locations. This paper explores the extent of the problem of congestion and current trends in Australia. It looks at current policy directions and their impacts on congestion. It concludes that the most politically popular strategies are unlikely to make any impression on congestion, and may even exacerbate it. It then considers some possible changes in policy directions and investment and examines the likely impact that these would have on future congestion. The paper concludes that congestion is unlikely to be reduced significantly and that there will be major challenges to maintain congestion at current levels, as opposed to having it get considerably worse. A comprehensive program of strategies is required to even maintain current congestion levels, and the paper also concludes that a central policy that must be considered is that of time-distance-place user charges