The " sticking point " !

Every year the traffic flow at peak times in Sydney gets a little slower.   It is a constant battle between more new cars trying to use existing roads and the impossibility of funding a completely new highway system to accommodate our love affair with the automobile.  Now there is a proposal to try a " carrot and stick " approach to try and vary the times that motorists drive their cars.

This idea proposes a new road toll at peak times, compensated by cutting the registration cost of each vehicle by nearly  half.  The current average registration cost of $ 400 would fall to $ 180, but motorists would be charged a five cent per kilometre toll for driving on arterial roads between 6 am and 9 am, and 4 pm and 6-30 pm.

This principle is already in place on the harbour bridge. Initially, some people tried to vary their driving time to avoid a higher toll, but in a short space of time it became just one more impost - because nothing really changed to make driving at peak time optional.

The sticking point is that we are still stuck with that old pre war - nine to five - mentality.    The morning peak exists because we need to travel to work in shops or offices for the morning start, and when our time at work ends we head home to create the afternoon peak.    If we could somehow spread our travelling needs more evenly over the day - the problem would be automatically solved.

We have come a little way in that direction.   The shops open on Saturday and Sunday now, when in a past era all forms of weekend trading was strictly controlled, but little has changed in the general business world.  If you need to call on an insurance company, visit a lawyer, consult a medical specialist - or do most very ordinary business transactions - you need to be in that nine to five time frame - or you will find a closed door !

We need to think long and hard about how to diversify our travel needs, and it is worth noting that the peak traffic flow eases noticeably whenever it coincides with school holidays.    Is it really necessary for the school day to mesh with the business day ?    What would be the ramifications of a school day that started at 11 am - and finished at 7 pm ?.   Of course there would be problems for some people, but surely we need to give serious thought to making the changes that will solve the problems - not merely throwing an ever increasing amount of money into building more roads.

We are well into the communications age.   Computers in family homes expand exponentially each year and every high school kid now has a personal computer.   Isn't it time the business world came out of the dark ages and made itself available outside that nine to five time frame ?    Do we need a whole bunch of people sitting in a city office for a reduced period of hours ?    Or would it be better to have a rotation of some of those people available online to spread the load ?     With email - and in particular - using Skype face to face conversations via a monitor screen - there is less need to physically travel to do business.

Unfortunately, we are creatures of habit.  More so, new ideas frighten us.   We tend to cling to the past.   It will be a long battle to convince business to change their ways - and an equally hard battle to get customers to use these new methods, but as Confucius once said - " The longest journey starts with the first step ".

If we ever hope to solve Sydney's traffic problems, we will need innovative thinking to even up the traffic flow - and the carrot and stick approach to sell the idea to all levels of society !