THE population boom across the inner west has led to a massive growth in car ownership, putting more pressure on roads already choked with traffic.

And forecasters say it is only going to the get worse.

With average peak hour speeds as low as 19km/h on important commuter routes and travel times growing, population predictions show the number of people living in the area will jump by more than 58,000 in the next 10 years.

Latest NSW Government figures show that total vehicle registrations have jumped by an average of 23 per cent in the decade since 2006 across the Inner West, Burwood, Canada Bay and Strathfield local government areas.

At the same time the population has risen by more than 60,300 — up 20 per cent.

media_camera Traffic choked commuter routes in the inner west are predicted to get worse as car registrations soar as our population booms.

Official registration statistics from Roads and Maritime Services show that in 2006 there were a total of 175,395 vehicles registered across all inner west local government areas.

By June 30, this year, the number of vehicles registered to addresses in the inner west rose to 216,039. That is about 1.5 vehicles for every household.

Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) latest Roads Report, for the three months ending August 31, showed that car commuters going home from work using Liverpool Rd from Ashfield to Bankstown had to put up with PM peak speeds averaging 19.5km/h.

This 11km stretch of the road took an average of about 36 minutes. The average travel on the same stretch of road in 2012 took 26 minutes.

On Harris St, between Pyrmont and Chippendale, motorists putter along at 22.1km/h in the afternoon rush hour, taking close to four minutes to make the 1.1km journey. Four years ago the same journey took three minutes.

Drivers using the City West Link between Rozelle and Haberfield currently average 35.8km/h in what is a 70km/h speed zone. It takes them nearly 11 minutes to travel five kilometres compared to eight minutes and 40 seconds in 2012.

There was an improvement of a minute, in the last four years, in the travel time on the 9.5km Ashfield to Concord section of Parramatta Rd. But the average PM peak speed was 37km/h.

Fears that a rise on the number of vehicles in the inner west will add to traffic snarls, travel times and reduced speeds, have prompted calls for transport planners to encourage more use of public transport.

Motorists’ lobby group NRMA said while it supports construction of new roads such as the 33km WestConnex to reduce congestion, getting more people on to buses and trains will help.

“The unfortunate reality is that we have largely been playing catch up football with infrastructure development,” spokesman Peter Khoury said.

“Major motorways that should have been built decades ago are only now being built. The same applies to public transport.

“We haven’t built the roads and public transport to keep up with population growth.”

media_camera A scene from the horror movie The Cars That Ate Paris.

Mr Khoury said commuter parking facilities should improved at stations like Ashfield and Strathfield.

A RMS spokesman said while travel times have increased on some routes new measures have been installed to reduce congestion including new electronic message signs along Victoria Rd and the City West Link.

The spokesman said when WestConnex is expected to accommodate thousands of vehicles in tunnels.

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