Perth drivers still not convinced by benefits of $200 million smart freeway

ABC NEWS (Australia)

After spending more than $200 million upgrading Perth’s Mitchell Freeway into a smart freeway, authorities boast that the new technology shaves 10 minutes off the morning commute. But some residents in Perth's north say it's made their journey times longer by pushing congestion back into the suburbs.

Transcript

00:00Every kilometre of the morning commute monitored.

00:08From adjusting the speed limit to giving motorists the green light, city-bound traffic is now

00:14regulated.

00:15So this is control room.

00:17By hundreds of sensors, cameras and a team of people.

00:21They're getting the data off the in-road sensors, so the sensors within the mainline detectors

00:27here.

00:28If an incident or heavy congestion is detected, the system will automatically make changes.

00:34Like reducing the speed limit, or slowing down the on-ramp signals, to avoid bottlenecks.

00:40Main road operators can then manually intervene if needed.

00:44But once you hit the mainline, you are getting that really smooth run into the city, and

00:48we're having a ten minute saving from Hester through to Vinson Street.

00:53But not everyone is convinced.

00:56Like many of her colleagues, Maggie now takes the back roads to work, after the upgrades

01:01blocked up Warwick Road.

01:03It almost doubled.

01:04So what used to take me 15 minutes to get to work, now takes me half an hour.

01:07Because unfortunately, that extra 15 minutes is waiting to get onto the freeway.

01:13This is one of the issues we're hearing from drivers.

01:15It's past peak hour, traffic is flowing on the freeway, but the signals are still on.

01:20So I now have to go from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in a relatively short distance.

01:26So I can merge safely.

01:29Despite the teething issues, the government is optimistic.

01:33It's a change.

01:34We saw this at the Kwinana Freeway.

01:36People take a little while to adapt to the new systems, but they work.

01:39About 60,000 cars use Mitchell Freeway southbound every day.

01:44Experts say there's evidence the smart technology helps, but the downfall can mean it attracts

01:50more drivers.

01:51We've given it a name in transport called induced demand.

01:55So as the service improves, people want to use that road.

01:59So we'll always be chasing our tail on this.

02:01A road network moving with the times.

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