The Australian city with the worst traffic isn’t Sydney or Melbourne

You might have a point when complaining about Brisbane traffic.

New traffic data has revealed Brisbane is the 12th most traffic-congested city in the world, placing it ahead of notoriously congested cities like Bangkok and Rome, and just a few spots behind bustling metropolises like New York City, London and Paris.

According to the 2023 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard – a report analysing traffic congestion data of more than 900 cities from 2020 to 2023 – Brisbane drivers, on a yearly average, lost 74 hours due to traffic delays, making it the most congested city in Australia.

That figure was up 10 per cent from the 2022 INRIX report.

Of the Australian cities recorded, Melbourne ranked second with drivers losing 62 hours due to traffic delays, while Sydney came in third (53 hours) and Perth ranked fourth (42 hours).

Congestion not only means longer commutes for motorists, affecting their productivity and happiness, it can worsen air quality and pose health risks.

The 2023 Congestion Survey conducted by the Royal Automotive Club of Queensland (RACQ) found the Pacific Motorway, connecting Brisbane with the Gold Coast, to be the most congested road in the state.

The Bruce Highway was listed as the second most congested road, followed by the Centenary Motorway. The Gateway Motorway sat in fourth place.

“Across our orbital motorway network, including the Logan Motorway, there are bottlenecks that need fixing, there are already projects underway that need finishing and there are sections that need extending to fill in missing links,” said Dr Michael Kane, head of public policy at the RACQ.

Developing new highways or motorways in Brisbane may temporarily alleviate traffic congestion, but there’s a cautionary tale from Sydney.

In the NRMA’s 16th annual Business Congestion Survey, the organisation found 56 per cent of drivers believe the supposedly time-saving Rozelle Interchange actually worsened congestion.

The survey highlighted Sydney’s escalating traffic congestion issues, with 87 per cent of respondents saying traffic congestion had worsened over the past year, with over half spending an extra 30 minutes in traffic daily.