It won’t surprise the many motorists who get caught in the daily bumper-to-bumper commute on Maitland, Newcastle Link or Lookout roads – to name just a few.
But, a new study from Chasing Cars has revealed Newcastle is the hardest city to escape during rush hour.
The data divulged 30 minutes of driving will take you just 11.8km from the city centre.
That’s an average of 23.6km/h.
The Hunter came out well ahead of Queensland’s Logan City (20km – distance in half an hour), Cairns (20.3km), Ipswich (20.7km) and Gold Coast (20.9km).
“Newcastle has an extensive system of road links and public transport services,” a Chasing Cars spokesperson said.
“It is connected to surrounding cities via motorways and highways – meaning many cars pass through the city.
“Not only can rush hour traffic elevate stress, encourage road rage and mean the difference between making it home in time for dinner, but stop/start traffic, over a lengthy period, can also wreak havoc on the condition of your vehicle.”
An independent review website, Chasing Cars compiled a list of cities in Australia and selected ones with a population of more than 50,000.
Then the team used TravelTime’s API to calculate the furthest distance that can be reached by a vehicle in 30 minutes from the city centre in both peak and off-peak hours – in August 2021 – and compared these numbers.
“As many of us are shifting from remote work back into the office, we’re quickly reminded about the worst part of driving: rush hour traffic,” the spokesperson said.
“Obviously, it wavered a little during the height of the pandemic, when congestion – say in a major city like Melbourne – fell from a healthy 19.8% to a Sunday drive-like 1.8%.
“However, road traffic has recovered like no other form of transport and Australia’s highways are good and clogged again.
“Despite the work-from-home revolution, COVID-19 did not kill the rush hour.
“If anything, it’s evolved a deadly new strain as we settle into new patterns of work, commerce and leisure.
“Unfortunately, as road usage grows, it will lead to more congestion, pollution, noise and accidents.”
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