Alan Hardcastle It's time to phase out tax incentives to salary package cars. This was introduced to support local vehicle manufacturing. It makes absolutely no sense to provide incentives to use the most inefficient and environmentally unfriendly transport mode. Use the savings to fund other transport modes. We also need a statewide program to support and promote riding and walking to school. Bill Forrest There needs to be much more public transport. I live in Mill Park, and the idea that I would drive to work is ridiculous. Have a look at London for answers. There are trains and buses beautifully coordinated. They arrive frequently, so that there is not a huge number of people at any one time waiting 20 minutes for another train, which cannot be alighted because it is already overfull. Look at Brisbane. Their busways are fantastic. Finally, I am in my 60's. All public transport needs to be easily used by disabled people, as they are likely to be poorer, and in more need of public transport than a lot of other people. I could talk about transport problems (and solutions) for way more than a paragraph, but I'd better stop. Judy Czuchnowski

Technology allows us now to work from home. If we can change the mindset about needing to go into the office, we can reduce traffic and being a sardine on public transport. Anonymous Active support of motorcycling (including scooters) as a viable transport option for single user trips. We encourage cycling and put a lot of taxpayers money behind that - imagine if we put the same effort into supporting motorcycling! David Edwards

There are 2 key factors: (1) How many cars Melbournes roads can handle and (2) the number of cars on the road. This gives us the 2 avenues to look at. Either continuing to expand our road network to Loading accommodate more vehicles, or reducing the number of vehicle using those roads. The second is desirable as there is huge investment and maintenance associated with more roads. The argument would also be that there would be the same for increased public transport. So how do we reduce the number of single occupant vehicles on the road, that are simply driving to and from a workplace? In an ever increasing digital age, it is becoming ever easier to work from home. It's something that businesses need to be engaged. It get cars off the roads and it helps people maintain a work/life balance. It would help parents get back to work sooner. We need to get past the 9 to 5 way of thinking and move into a more flexible way of working. Even if it is 2 days a week, the results would be significant. James Design and invest in public transport and walking.

Sarah Not roads. The roads will just become congested and will not solve the problem. A car (whether automated or driverless or Uber or carshare or electric) will still use the same amount of road space as a conventional car. People need to travel in smaller vehicles - eg bicycles, walking, public transport. The Liberals propose $30 billion on overpasses, freeways, tunnels - all roads. Labor is not much better. What a shocking shocking waste of money! Why not spend $30 billion on removing road space for cars and for parking, having bike lanes on each and every middle to major road, and then watching as a 'virtuous cycle' of demand leads to better bicycle lanes and paths, better public transport and people having a life that doesn't revolve around cars. Sure, cars are useful and will always have a place, but in the same way we are not spending billions building typewriter factories to travel back to the 1940s, we should not be spending billions building roads in the failed hope that they will somehow fix problems. $1 billion on a road = $1 billion on putting-off some congestion for a year or two. $1 billion some other way = $1 billion to create a better city. Tony Lammens Drastically slashing immigration and thereby population growth. Anonymous

We have to stop rapidly increasing the population. It is a fantasy to think we can improve congestion while rapidly increasing the population. Andrew I recently moved to Point Cook and planned to ride to work in Laverton as much as possible as it is only a 7km trip. However after assessing the available routes I concluded it was just too dangerous to ride anywhere on Point Cook Rd. Dedicated cycle / pedestrian paths completely separated from the roads would allow many more people to cycle and walk and great amenity to this part of the city. Lucas Ferguson

The answer is obvious. There is too much immigration into this country. Population growth will Loading outweigh any attempts to fiddle with our roads system. Simple as that. CC

I do have a simple cheap small fix to improve traffic flow. Cars turning right get a green arrow first, then it goes red. Don’t keep right turning red arrows red throughout each traffic lights cycle. No point stopping 10, 15, 20+ cars from turning right, especially if oncoming traffic is light. Have the red arrow go off after 5 seconds so cars can continue to turn right if there is no oncoming traffic. This would help peak hour traffic. No point stopping peak hour cars turning right when traffic in the other direction is light. If oncoming traffic is heavy then at least a few more cars get to turn right as all the lights change to red. If there are many cars waiting to turn right, they usually end up blocking traffic in a second lane from going straight. If a car turning left stops and waits for pedestrians, nobody is going anywhere. It’s a simple idea. I can’t believe no one has already thought of it. Michael Bellotti Provide an efficient, cost-effective public transport system. We cannot solve this type of problem by building more roads. More roads = more cars = more congestion. Andrew Ferguson

Remove mandatory helmet laws is the single best thing you can improve cycling rates, followed by complete cycling infrastructure that's fully connected. Lawrence Chong Abolish the flat $800 rego for unlimited road access. Replace with road tolls so the less you drive the less you pay. Only toll motorway on/off ramps so outer-suburban residents not excessively penalised. Also add T2 lanes to all roads with 3 or more lanes. Alan Ide

Walking is now quicker than driving. Many health benefits, both physical and mental. The roads in Melbourne are a joke. Ange Kenn Congestion tax asap. Multi level parking hubs at train stations (rather than multi level apartments) developments should be planned 1 to 3 blocks from stations. Travel cards linked to salary so pre paid. With more people using the system will become more efficient. Promotion of car sharing enterprises. Have lots more ideas! Joan

Increase clearways, and enforce them, to morning 6:30 am to 10 am, and 3:30 pm to 7 pm in the evening. Currently cars tend to park in clearways safe in the knowledge they will not be fined / towed in the first / last 20 minutes and the short clearways increase the time taken for traffic to clear as it concentrates demand. Roger Miles Move jobs to regional cities (good/well paid jobs!!): a more even spread of opportunities across the state would be fantastic! - Reduce urban sprawl: try to 'bring in the edges' by acquiring and demolishing housing in some outer suburbs - MEDIUM density development in middle-ring suburbs. Melbourne already has an overabundance of badly built, badly designed tiny flats. - Fix the bloody bus network! If I had to choose between a three hour bus trip and a 45 minute drive, I'd drive too. And finally - tell me who did this modelling? Because it's been years since it was possible to get from the outer east to the CBD in 25 minutes....

Anonymous The current focus on high-profile heavy rail projects is excellent but more needs to be done for trams and buses - fast. Like the level crossing removals, a big city-wide project should be launched to separate tram routes from traffic and to extend terminals to logical destinations (eg., tram 3 to East Malvern station, tram 59 to the airport). More Smartbus-style bus routes should be implemented. PTV should publish their long-awaited On Road Network Development Plan to show they're serious about trams and buses, and introduce their rumoured plan to reform bus routes to the Smartbus/Direct/Coverage levels, with increased high frequency and long span services (eg., max 20 minutes between buses.) Shing Hei Ho One simple thing would be to reduce the ridiculously long times between the railway crossings closing and an ACTUAL train going past. Honest. It is beyond a joke. Sure be safe, but it is just risk adverse in the extreme, ask any motorist! Please reprogram them more realistically!

Anonymous In just three words, a ‘Rowville Railway Line’. This railway line from Huntingdale Railway Station to Rowville should have been constructed over 60 years ago and for never ending an compelling Loading reasons is urgently needed now. The very successful Skyrail redevelopment of the Dandenong railway line should continue in the form, of the Rowville Railway Line. With the elimination of level crossings on the Dandenong Railway line there is no good reason why construction of a heavy railway line to Rowville can not be commenced today. Let’s stop the ‘talk’ and get moving. 60 years to long enough to wait for this much ‘talked about’ railway extension. Carl Kelsen

Introduce circular train lines connecting major activity centres such as Chadstone Shopping centre. Reduce population growth in Melbourne and Australia by freezing immigration levels and offering further incentives to decentralise to Ballarat, Bendigo etc Anonymous Traffic light sequences contribute to congestion. Have CCTV cover a majority of major intersections that a beamed into a control room. Traffic operators in this room can extend arrows longer as well as green lights etc etc. How many times you get stuck at lights with congestion heavy in one direction and the cross streets have minimal congestion. It’s that simple. Pete

The biggest problem is cars driving to work with a driver only. Introduce a ride sharing App technology with incentives and rewards for people to use it and for people to offer it. Almost like extra Uber drivers offering to dive someone a lift if it is "on the way" to of from their work. Raise the price of petrol by 50% for non commercial drivers. Drivers who share rides with others get a 50% discount on petrol (ie stay on normal price) So use carrots & sticks to make it happen. This would drop traffic by 30 - 50% in my opinion once it gets going. Peter Kakris I have two suggestions: 1. Introduce synchronised traffic lights. How many times have you passed through three intersections and caught three red lights? With two or three minutes delay with each red light, a journey will be extended significantly with every red light. Establish synchronisation based on a specific speed. For example, if a car maintains 60 km/h, the traffic light synchronisation would create a strong likelihood of having a green light at the next intersection. This would encourage drivers to stick to speed limits also. Often at an intersection, one road is far busier than another. Look at ways to monitor real time traffic flow and have traffic lights self adjust to a real time traffic level situations. 2. The State Government and local councils should create more "no standing" roads. This will of course be unpopular with residents and commercial businesses located along priority roads, but the end result would be positive for the community as a whole. Peter Henrys

Build the East West Link. Benjamin D Improve and extend public transport and bicycle infrastructure. Just look at Amsterdam Anonymous

The following are some steps that could be taken to improve Melbourne's traffic. I could elaborate on all of them, but you asked for a paragraph. (1) Public transport should be improved, including a rail link to the Airport. There is a case for making public transport free. (2) Employers should be encouraged (e.g. with tax concessions) to locate or re-locate to outer suburbs or regional areas and where possible to stagger their hours or days of work. (3) There are many ways in which traffic flow on existing roads could be improved, e.g. by eliminating unnecessary red traffic lights. (4) There are many ways that motorists could improve traffic flow by the way they drive. Chris Manning Build multi level carparks at rail stations and charge a nominal daily rate (say $5). Massively increase bus routes to end at rail stations during the morning rush and in reverse at night. Build carparking areas along these bus routes so people can drive their cars to these parking areas & almost immediately, catch a bus to a rail station. Increase train movements on all lines so wait times are only a couple of minutes. Aim to make it possible for a traveller to drive to a LOCAL carpark area; catch a bus to a station then a train to the city arriving at least 10 minutes quicker than by driving there by car and costing less than the cost of petrol. Robert McNaught

Develop major regional hubs. Jacqui All new freeways / major roads should have trenching in place underneath (as per Japan) for subsequent rail deployment. All shopping centre extension (ie Chadstone) only approved if include developer funded interconnect to the rail system All major railway interchanges should have integrated shopping complex developed over as per Hong Kong, Tokyo, Le Halles in Paris etc Anonymous

It is very simple! STOP and slow down the population growth. Reduce immigration by at least half immediately. Decentralise employment to close regional centres. It is that simple, but humans and the Politburo have a way to go to realise this yet. Probably not until it is too late. Loading Graham Create a cycling super highway like what london has done. which was identify the 12 most popular

ways of getting into the city and prioritising those by means of lane separation and traffic light sequencing. Marty Gridlock only occurs because too many cars are on the road - pretty damned obvious. UK studies show that 'improved' roads and more roads only attract more drivers. one has to get cars off the road, not only because of gridlock, but because of the immense levels of toxins vehicles put into the atmosphere; and electric cars WILL NOT fix either of these problems. the main issue is how suburbs are designed to require car dependency, the inability or lack of desire for people to live near work, and the inadequacy of public transport. Anonymous

Incentives for employers to encourage people to work from home. No commute = no traffic = more productive hours in a workers day. Most office workers sit a desk and send emails to people a few rows away from them anyway... Anonymous Short term: Cycling infrastructure and giving walking precedence over motor vehicles. Most bang for buck! Long term: Boost public transport rail, tram and bus services. e.g. Doncaster rail, Metro 2 etc. Complete the NE Link, no road should dump heavy traffic into a suburban area like Rosanna, Heidelberg. Policy: Transport investment based on efficiency (Cycling, Walking, Public Transport, Motorcycling, Trucks then finally cars. Charge for roads. Do not develop low density outer suburbs any more. Infrastructure first, construction second. Remove Politicians from the options and recommendations to stop pork barreling. Kev

One line will do... Immigration policy. Matt Congestion charge like in London and Singapore. Michael Gronow

The population is being allow to increase with insufficient services such as roads. It's called racist if you mention this, but it's simply supply and demand of services. Roads, hospitals, schools, etc. Little planning has been done in reality, and major parties just fight over it, yet they are the same in allowing population to go grow without the services. Imagine Melbourne at 8 million plus and prepare for chaos as the roads, hospitals, schools, will be unable to cope. In general there is a war against cyclists so how to solve with the hatred ever present? Partial solutions, are school buses, buses for major arteries, ban commuting cars at certain times, but they must reduce immigration "until" we are able to provide the services. It won't happen, but my 2c. John Make sure that drivers who block intersections are punished - put cameras on intersections if you have to - when people block intersections it immediately causes a build up of traffic that can't clear on the next cycle and so the effect is extensive. For freeways people need to learn to accelerate ot the speed f the traffic and those in the left lane need to either move over or make room for the merging traffic - the eastlink freeway is often at a crawl around where there are on-ramps because people just can't drive. Doug

Easy: 1. Stop building roads 2. Massive investment in public transport 3. Reduce urban sprawl 4.Massive investment in bike infrastructure 5. Walkable neighbourhoods. 5. Prioritise public transport, walking, biking over cars. Gavin Doolan Less people! Question the ideology of endless growth of a "Big Australia". A high growth city might be attractive for business but infrastructure will always lag population and Melbourne will lose a lot of its appeal. Harry

CBD is 3D dense population. Road are 2 dimensional. Elon Musk is correct. The transport connections need to scale as the CBD has and that can be done by tunnels. Dedicating a lane on major freeways to rail as well as a mid and outer rail loop would form part of flexible network. A contract that rewards timeliness and cost targets and has meaningful consequences for failure. When EV arrive in larger numbers. Discounted charging in CBD before peak time. Simon Raschle Build a number of large "satellite" train stations in key areas in the North, West and East with express trains into the city, to encourage people to drop the car and catch transport into the city. Unlike most stations, including those recently built, adequate parking is an absolute must. Classic example is Caroline Springs station, nice new station but parking is about 10% what it should be. That's why people continue to use their cars. Brad

Ride share in driverless vehicles won't work unless protection from harassment is made paramount. On buses, trains and trams there are usually others around but people, usually women, are still harassed, and a car with maybe four strangers, and no driver, is a much less safe option. Buses won't work because they require the roads to be free and at evening peak they do not and cannot run to their timetables. Rail both light and heavy, separated from the road offers the best likelihood of working. But look at the MRT map for New Taipei City (which has a population of just under 2.7 million) - it crosses the city 3 times North-South and 3 times East-West. Osaka (which has a population of 2.6 million) has rail that crosses North-South 5 times, and East-West 3 times. Look at London and Tokyo train maps and you see many more crossing points and loops further out. All our East-West trains have to use the loop. It's crazy. Taipei also uses some elevated light rail - it's quiet, smooth and fast. They have automated, elevated light rail for short spur tracks as well. We need more North-South Rail and we need more East-West rail: ie build the Doncaster line to link with Northern and Western lines to provide a second crossing North of the City, and the Werribee Line should be extended and cross South of the Yarra. If we want the inner and middle suburbs to have more infill then that means at least one more line running North-South-West to form a second loop from Doncaster around to the Werribee Line through the Eastern Suburbs. (You would need permission to print the attached maps.) Anonymous Put money into upgrading trams and buses. Make trams, trains and buses run more frequently and on time. Improve bicycle lane infrastructure.

Anonymous

A radical investment in public transport. Metro 2, Metro 3 (connecting to the airport rail), an outer orbital line connection all the hubs from Frankston around to Werribee South, and an inner-orbital route pondering-where-underground- light-rail-might-suit- melbourne). Shifting the psychology of the city (and the government) toward becoming a public transport driven city will be difficult, but is increasingly essential (and desirable!) Anonymous Having alternatives to the current one freeway all the way from the west to the east. If something happens either end or anywhere on that road, everything grinds to a halt for miles and miles. Anonymous

If we want to be serious, there's no way around it but dropping migration (permanent and temporary) for a while. Anything else is just frittering around the edges. Jeff Create more suburban hubs where businesses can concentrate outside of the city. This will need Loading

better transport connectivity and council incentives for businesses to set themselves up. Could include Dandenong, Cranbourne, Glen Waverley, Springvale. Additionally, ban fun runs, the grand prix and other public events from cutting off roads, in particular as there are so many disruptions from road work on St Kilda Rd and the CBD for the Metro tunnel works. Anonymous Staggering stop and start times for everyone / business would free up traffic flow. Given an incentive this could be achievable as long as people can achieve what they need to do. Replacing all buses with double deck buses would halve the number of standard buses as you would still carry the same number of people. Have double deck trains. Just like production efficiency move more people with minimal motion. Ban B double trucks. they take the space of 4 cars. Move more freight by train. give them an incentive to do this. Give people an incentive / reward to leave the car at home for 1 day a week or more. Make cars more even on power and speed. In my opinion as an automotive engineer the variation in power and size causes congestion due to accidents, and poor driver behaviour because of the over confidence and aggressiveness the powerful vehicle brings. This need to be controlled or curtailed. Just like a production conveyor you cannot have mismatching speeds and stoppages due to parts jamming. The equivalent to cars crashing and causing major congestion. Then we blame stupid drivers. Drivers will always be stupid, just like greed and the recession.. In the end cars are just transport. It needs to be controlled in a way just as you would in a production process environment. We have gone past the point where we once enjoyed few cars and open spaces in the cities. I think in the end this will be solved by autonomous cars that talk to each other and the driver taken out of the equation. Claude