Associate Professor Burke on Monday spoke in favour of introducing a future congestion price to reduce peak-hour CBD congestion. The Melbourne-based Grattan Institute released a discussion paper supporting a scheme where motorists pay a small price – equivalent to a public transport fare – to drive their car into Australia's capital city CBDs. The Grattan Institute said a congestion price on cars was realistic in Sydney and Melbourne within a decade, but it did not study Brisbane, which last looked at congestion pricing in 2011. Associate Professor Burke said Brisbane received a "sugar hit" from the three tunnels, Clem7 (March 2010), Airport Link (July 2012) and Legacy Way (May 2015), when they opened. "But since, we have actually found ourselves in the last few years in pretty rapidly increasing congestion," Associate Professor Burke said.

"We really haven’t built our way out of congestion in any way." Associate Professor Matthew Burke from Griffith University’s Cities Research Institute. He pointed out Brisbane traffic data collected by vehicle traffic technology and referred to as Brisbane’s TomTom congestion index. TomTom technology shows Brisbane’s travel time in morning peaks has increased by 2 per cent since 2017. It estimates Brisbane’s peak hour travel time has increased by 14 minutes and the evening peak hour has increased by 15 minutes.

Loading RACQ has found similar extensions to Greater Brisbane's peak-hour travel times, despite significant road expenditure by Brisbane City Council and the Department of Transport and Main Roads. Associate Professor Burke said Brisbane had not seen the shift to public transport that planners saw in Sydney and Melbourne. "We are not seeing the sharp uptake in rail patronage and there are some well-documented issues with QR over the last couple of years," he said. "We just haven’t seen those things happen in Brisbane, and that is quite a disappointment."

Associate Professor Burke said the three tunnels cost the private and public sectors about $10 billion. Clem7 cost $3.2 billion, AirportlinkM7 cost $4.8 billion, while Legacy Way cost about $1.5 billion. Vehicles using Brisbane's toll tunnels September 2019 Clem 7 tunnel opened in March 2010. 2016 average - 33,443 vehicles per day.

September 2017 - 28,000 vehicles per day.

September 2018 - 30,000 vehicles per day.

September 2019 - 29,000 vehicles per day. Airport Link tunnel opened in July 2012. 2016 average - 57,500 vehicles per day.

September 2017 - 58,000 vehicles per day

September 2018 - 64,000 vehicles per day.

September 2019 - 65,000 vehicles per day. Legacy Way tunnel opened in May 2015. 2016 average - 21,044 vehicles per day.

September 2017 - 18,000 vehicles per day

September 2018 - 21,000 vehicles per day.

September 2019 - 22,000 vehicles per day. Transurban says greater Brisbane's traffic numbers have grown by 3.9 per cent from 2018-19. "The best of these is getting over 60,000 vehicles a day while the others are getting around 30,000 per day or less," he said. He ranked the "CBD to Brisbane Airport" Airport Link tunnel a success because it allowed Lutwyche Road to be reclaimed for motorists and for the Northern Busway to come on line.

"It is a genuine corridor of desire," he said. RACQ's head of public policy Rebecca Michael said Brisbane's toll roads were not doing the heavy lifting to tackle congestion. Dr Rebecca Michael, RACQ's head of public policy. "There are major under-utilised toll roads in Brisbane that aren’t doing their fair share of the heavy lifting because drivers are being deterred by expensive fees," Dr Michael said. "We want to see greater incentives and discounts offered to get people using toll roads and help spread the load across the broader network."

Loading Dr Michael said the RACQ did not think Brisbane was ready for a congestion charge. "It’s premature to introduce it here in Brisbane," she said. "We are not at the scale, nor do we have the population of other major cities that impose these types of taxes. There’s no doubt congestion is a big issue in Brisbane, but there are other more suitable options available to manage it." International transport logistics company Transurban, which wholly owns Clem7, Legacy Way, Airport Link and the Gateway and Logan motorways, said their motorways were making an impact.

"Nearly 120,000 trips are taken each day in Brisbane’s tunnels; that is the Clem7, the AirportlinkM7 and Legacy Way," a spokeswoman said. "That’s 120,000 fewer trips on the alternative routes like the Story Bridge, Gympie Road, Coronation Drive and Riverside Expressway." The spokeswoman did not answer questions on how Transurban may offer flexible pricing plans to tackle congestion. "Queensland’s toll roads are just one option to help people get to where they want to go, with other roads, public transport and other active transport options available," she said. Transport Minister Mark Bailey said Brisbane was a different city to Sydney and Melbourne and a congestion charge was not yet being considered.