Whittlesea residents took to social media last Thursday to share their nightmare commutes and call for more investment in roads and public transport.
The National Growth Areas Alliance declared September 14 as National Nightmare Commute Day, urging people living in the outer suburbs to share their commuting horror stories.
Throughout the morning, Whittlesea residents took to Facebook and Twitter to share their trips to work.
Many posted photographs of overcrowded trains that were packed just a few stops into the hour-long journey, while others shared snaps of bumper-to-bumper traffic on the municipality’s arterial roads.
One resident said it was not uncommon for his commute from Mernda to Port Melbourne to take two and half hours. Another said he endured a three-hour round trip each day from Epping. One photograph shared by the council’s Twitter account showed gridlocked traffic on Yan Yean Road before 8am, while another council tweet informed commuters the car park at South Morang station was full by 7.20am.
Mayor Ricky Kirkham said traffic congestion was causing pain to thousands of families.
“Our residents spend too much time commuting each day – valuable time that could be spent with their families,” he said.
“As our city continues to grow, congestion will get worse. We need a much bigger financial investment from the federal government to significantly improve our roads.”
Cr Kirkham said the council was lobbying for funds to duplicate Epping and Bridge Inn roads, extend Edgars Road and upgrade the intersections of Plenty and Bridge Inn roads, Findon and Epping roads, and Epping and O’Herns roads.
The council also wants the train to be extended to Wollert and the route 86 tram to be extended to South Morang.
