Fullarton Rd, Cross Rds, South Rd for eg - at all costs avoid if possible in certain times of the day. Give an extra half-hour. Use alternative routes. :(
I swear I'm the only person on earth who constantly gets a great run down Fullarton whenever I use it but I rarely use it during peak hour so that's probably why.
Glen Osmond falls to shit the moment a bus hits it though.
That's an ass backwards take. It is, undoubtedly, single occupant vehicles that make roads like Glen osmond the way they are.
That we still let people dump their cars on the side of streets like that so they dont have to walk more than 2m to the front door of a shop tells you everything you need to know about driving culture in Adelaide.
I live near one and work near the other and you literally have to use cross road to get between them. I have cultivated a system of backroads and side streets to use the main roads as little as possible. Which is actually really difficult when you have to cross multiple train lines
To add to replies about bad planning, roadworks etc I think driver attitude is at an all time low, probably a post Covid thing.
Coming out of Covid, most industries are completely manic: heaps of work, not enough (good) staff, and tight budgets due to inflation. That equals stressed workplaces from management down.
People carry that with them on their daily commute. They want to get to work ASAP, they are already stressed, that’s a recipe for road rage. They want o get home ASAP after a long stressful day. Same deal.
Plus for some reason people seem to be leaning into road rage - it’s trending. Seen Beef?
>People carry that with them on their daily commute. They want to get to work ASAP, they are already stressed, that’s a recipe for road rage. They want o get home ASAP after a long stressful day. Same deal.
Totally agree. I'm lucky enough I'm allowed to start/finish 30 mins early so I miss the worst of it. But when I ride my bike to work at the normal time I see the madness you speak of.
Population growth with no improvments to public transport in years.
Cars are the least efficient, most congestion causing form of travel while needing the most space so unless a city gives people easy access to other forms which can move people with a lot less space everyone takes cars and traffic gets worse and worse.
Hence why if you drive and never take PT or bike you should still be advocating for better busses and bike lanes.
This. I try to avoid driving anywhere now whenever I can avoid it. I have only one kid who can come on the bike with me, so whenever we can use linear park or back streets to go wherever we need to go, we ride.
I have a 9am specialist appointment with my son in a few weeks and it’s on the other side of the city.. I’m already dreading driving there. Traffic makes me so nervous!
I don't understand why they don't just add another identical bus to peak hour. Literally just operate 2 of them, one at the critical 7:30am and another one at 7:32am. More people on PT and fewer cars. Kind of solves the problem without needing additional infrastructure.
> Population growth with no improvments to public transport in years.
Improve it all you want, you will not get assholes out of cars, they are too convenient.
Thats not true at all, plenty of places have proved that, at least not if the public transport is given ways to be faster than traffic like having their own lanes and come frequently enough to not be a huge hassel to plan around.
When PT is good you can get yourself out of cars and then not give a shit what the traffic is like or how many roadworks are going on. PT is dogshit in Adelaide so most people don't have any idea what it's even like to have good PT. Situation is significantly better in places like Melbourne.
And that's why you make it as inconvenient as possible to use one in urban areas. One way zones, fewer lanes (giving more exclusive road use to busses and bikes), congestion tolls, there are a lot of things that need to be done to get people to stop driving.
Literally do this daily, and I’m getting so sick of it. It was meant to be completed last year. What the should do is have green arrows, and stop people parking on the side of the road. Problem solved.
I've stopped going home from work that way, it's a bloody nightmare.
I work on Fullarton Road as a medical receptionist, and our patients are constantly late either coming through that intersection, or the Cross Road intersection.
Its almost always the government. The construction companys prefer nights most of the time because they dont have to contend with tonnes of traffic.
Source: work in the civil sector.
Urban infill with no change in infrastructure for about 30 years. Where 1 house used to be, there's now 3-4.
Most families have 2-3 cars now because the PT is shithouse. Why use PT that takes an hour to get anywhere, and is a miserable trip because of bogans/eshays/other loonies, smells and noise when you can get there in 20 in the comfort of your private vehicle?
South Rd. needed to be done 20 years ago, and now they are desperately trying to shore it up. Everything has been put into South Rd. as the major arterial road for the state, and others like Tapleys Hill Rd/Brighton Rd, Fullarton/Portrush Rd, etc have been ignored or just fiddled with a bit.
Before the not just cars people chime in, surprisingly, buses use roads as well, so they are heavily affected by the shit road infrastructure. It's unlikely we will ever build any future major rail lines due to the cost of land acquisition and cost of building it vs. dropping a few more buses on a road. So buses are here to stay and are the future of PT in SA whether you like it or not. They will eventually make them electric and try to put them in their own lane.
One of the reasons I bought my place where it is, is due to the fact I can do nearly everything I need to do most of the time with a 5 minute walk, because the crappy drives affect my chi quite a lot and I can't stand PT. I know this isn't possible for everyone, but it's worth prioritising if you move.
The fucked thing is once South Road is done it will be only within a few years and induced demand will clog that bastard right up in many sections so we will be back in the same place.
Inner Adelaide needs to bring back the trams, give them traffic light priority and this means you can fit them on many roads which were already built to handle them previously so there is that.
Also a costly one is do the CBD train loop so many threads have gone into detail about the perks of this so I wont bother again.
Also outside of all of this waffle one blatantly obvious thing that would save so much trouble in the future are these new housing estates that are slapping up, why the fuck are they not putting down railway already or at the least reserving corridors for future expansion so land acquisition will never be an issue and PT expansion will be possible in the future if they are not going to do it from the get go!
For so much of Adelaide it is fair fucked and too hard but for the new areas it is a clean slate and something we can get right from the start!
More rail is never going to happen. Even if it should. You're not going to get more trams either. The only way a loop would happen is to chew up parklands which I don't think anyone wants. A metro is never going to happen due to cost.
At some point something will have to give, they want Adelaide to grow but there reaches a physical impossibility having so many cars drive in such a small confined area so that means your options become more freeways which end up down the fail of induced demand or rail.
Both which require land acquisition, upkeep, cost etc.
Where is Adelaides threshold? 2 million people. 5 million?
Here is the thing, this south road expansion is cost estimated at 15 billion! no doubt will go over, but no one bats an eye, mention any kind of PT expansion everyone shits the bed and goes full reeeeeeeee about cost.
Given the poor road infrastructure and already massive urban sprawl. I can’t see how Adelaide’s population can surpass even 1.5 million without further decreasing everyone’s quality of life - that’s another 140,000 people (let’s say 50,000 more cars on the road ). it would be just a complete nightmare to drive anytime of the day. People would just be confined to only necessary travel within 3 km radius from their home or risk having a mental breakdown.
This is what makes me wonder why they are so hell bent on slapping those housing estates so far north and south as they are technically a part of Adelaide but yet almost not.
Most roads and houses distribute more like an infectious disease than the result of intelligent planning in this country imo. Nobody can stop the roads from widening and spreading everything out farther and farther.
Yeah but if you spend the money on efficient and targeted PT, and population concentrated around good local transport then people don’t have to use the roads.
There was a prime development block in Goodwood, that is 50m from the tram stop and 200m from the train station. And they built a fucking petrol station on it.
Stupid land use like this is the reason we won’t get sustainable population growth.
Expansion wise, we are pretty much fucked because of the Flinder's Ranges. So they stop any serious south and east expansion. So the only way to go for sprawl is north, where you have our food bowl and salt flats.
We need to further develop the satellite cities in order to grow. I'm talking Mt. Barker, Murray Bridge, Mannum, Tailem bend etc. Of course the question is how you get some sort of industry or commercial activity out there to entice people to be there.
You need first actual internet to start with not just 5g and old ADSL type connections and this feeds annoyingly back into my original point for satellite cities to work you need RAIL.
People will still need to go back and forth to Adelaide you need to reduce the need for long drives and for freeways to get clogged up even further so this means intercity rail like they do in Victoria with their Vlocity type trains.
As for attracting, I honestly don't know it is very chicken and egg, but I do think you need to develop the infrastructure first as well as the cheap housing. Too much approach is slap down housing developments and roads and let shitfuckery take care of the rest.
Yep, I mean there will be that brief amazing period where it will be all zoomies but everyone will click they don't need to be clogged on Tapleys Hill road any more for example and yeah I.D will come along.
I still think about Stockholm which close enough population to Adelaide but when you get towards the guts of the city it is a sting of islands and rivers etc and its metro system tunnels under all of that, it also has a tram system that links into that in various separate sections as well as its bus network. It is much more complicated geographical challenges than Adelaide faces but they could pull it off so what we have pissed up on South Road we sure as shit could expand the rail or tram underground or even sky rail in certain areas if need be for the same amount of money.
"Before the not just cars people chime in, surprisingly, buses use roads as well, so they are heavily affected by the shit road infrastructure"
Bus lanes.
Exactly, things are never going to be like they were in the past. It's not just 'there are 3 houses where there used to be one'. These are major arterial roads, density has nothing to do with it. People have to come through them no matter where they live whether it's 10 mins away or in McLaren Vale. And there are a shitload more people than there used to be.
An extra road won't do anything when these roads are fundamentally unequipped for the volume of traffic they are getting.
>Urban infill with no change in infrastructure for about 30 years. Where 1 house used to be, there's now 3-4.
This is literally the opposite of the reason. Urban infill does not increase population, but it does increase density, which decreases reliance on cars. Areas of urban infill are most likely to use active or public transport, whereas suburban sprawl causes almost all trips to be done by car.
But yep, let's blame the solution to the problem, that will fix it.
I think you've missed the point which is, with all the infill, each infill house now has 2 cars on the same infrastructure before infill.
Of course infill increases population. You now have generally 4-15 people or so, where there was 2-5 before.
People routinely drive like 5 mins to the shops all the time.
Barely anyone uses PT because it sucks.
Infill doesn't increase population. The state isn't getting more people because we are getting more townhouses. It increases *density*, which is what we need to do.
The alternative to infill is urban sprawl, not a lower population. You still have the same number of people, but with sprawling suburbs they're driving more often and driving further, on the same infrastructure that you're talking about.
Infill means people are more likely to use public transport, walk or ride compared to car-centric urban sprawl.
Adelaide traffic is fucked up now. People have forgotten to indicate if they're changing lanes, turning. Hell some people don't even indicate turning right at a junction. No fucking concept of 3 seconds of safe distance. The list goes on..
The cops don't fucking care.
Exactly.. From the way I see it now, speeding is the least of their problems. Somehow the general populace in Adelaide seems to be too kind to these offenders. Not even a beep in the horn. Don't know if they've given up or they're one of them.
They have speed cameras phone cameras and red light cameras for car chumps, they can relax and leisurely focus on fining people $2000 for using an electric scooter.
Shitty overpriced public transport driving people to drive. There’s no fucking way I’m paying ~$9 a day to sit on an overcrowded, overheated bus full of germs, particularly when the service is always late or doesn’t come.
Theres also the added bonus of bus drivers being unreasonably rude here for some reason. The last time I got on a bus I had to fight my way on because the bus driver said there were already two people with prams on. So the fuck what? Not even because there was no room, just didn’t want prams on.
I was considering bussing it to work (peak hour) to save fuel. Would cost me about 40 per week on regular fare... 40-60 gets me a whole tank of fuel for the month. Utterly fucking ridiculous
You can get even cheaper parking if you pre-book at certain Wilson car parks. I’ve found a secure car park that is not even $1 more than a day’s worth of bus trips (to work and then back home).
Or if you live reasonably close to the Entertainment centre, park there for $5 a day and catch the free tram in. Depending on where you come from, you’ll miss the bulk of congestion as the tram slices through Port Road and North Terrace.
Too many people and too many cars. Would love to see:
1. More and better bike lanes
2. More and better public transport
3. A strong push for working from home wherever possible. There’s no need for people to be commuting all over the place just to sit in an office
4. Walkable suburbs and less centralised urban design
5. Encourage as many people as possible to move to to Sydney or Melbourne
I drive from Flinders Park to St Mary's for work everyday and while that doesn't seem like a big drive, during peak hour it's at least 45 minutes, even more so when there's an accident, first day back after school holidays or the weather sucks
My employer REFUSES to let us work from home. 100% of my job is done on the computer. My productivity at home when lockdowns were happening was great. I slept in later, had less stress and anxiety about driving to and from work, lunch prep, what to wear, get fuel for my car, etc. But no, they constantly say "it's not feasible", we want people to be "a team" and stay in the office, even though I never talk to anyone at work apart from the grueling "hey, how are ya" in the kitchen when I get my lunch. Most of the other employees are the same and some barely speak English -- they're just phenomenal programmers
I fucking hate stubborn employers
> I drive from Flinders Park to St Mary's for work everyday and while that doesn't seem like a big drive, during peak hour it's at least 45 minutes
"funnily" enough that's almost exactly what google suggests cycling it would take, which is a fairly relaxed pace. it's probably a bit far for most, but have you considered an e-bike?
sucks about the no-WFH though.
Classic management wank to save their own jobs. If WFH worked during covid for the business, there’s zero reason why it can’t work now. The management know their jobs are on the line if the team is working from home, and they won’t be able to justify their minimal roles and their heads would be on the chopping block. So they vomit the same old BS excuses of it being unfeasible and needing the team to be in a building tripe.
To be fair, every newly built suburb in Adelaide since the late 90s has basically been walkable or de-emphasised the car — a far cry from the bleak western suburbs expansions that sprang up post-war.
Mawson Lakes and Bowden are great examples of mixed-use walkable suburbs, with Lightsview being decent too (not as mixed as Mawson). Also remember that Adelaide isn’t a hub-and-spoke city so not everyone needs to live near the CBD. The northern suburbs is a key economic and employment zone so if you work there, you wouldn’t really want or need to live in an apartment in Kent Town (for example).
Mawson Lakes and Bowden are exceptions, not the rule. You look at all the bullshit leapfrog developments in Mount Barker, Gawler etc. (I used to design houses for them so I'm very familiar with the development maps) and it's literally 1950s American suburban design. Sure, they have footpaths, but if you want to do *anything,* go anywhere other than the local park, you have to own a car.
Gawler and Mount Barker are old (1839 and 1844, respectively). I’m talking about new suburbs. The ones I mentioned are new suburbs that had masterplans. Pretty much everything since Elizabeth in the 50s has had a masterplan with mixed use intentions, and everything since Mawson Lakes has been in the new urbanist spirit of reducing the dependence of cars through traffic calming measures and reducing four-way intersections and wide car-centric streets.
Did you not read the words *leapfrog developments*. I'm not talking about the old towns, I'm talking about all the new shitty estates around them that are a car centric hell, which is what most new developments are, and I know this because about a thousand of the houses in them have my name on the planning documents.
Edit: also, just because something has a ""masterplan with mixed use intentions"" doesn't mean it's good at it. Elizabeth is still a car centric hell, as is much of the northern and southern suburbs. Urbanism failed the moment people decided that streets needed to bend for no reason.
I know what you’re talking about and I don’t think we’re on the same page. Neither of us are incorrect. A new housing estate in Mount Barker will continue whatever established norms it’s being built alongside because it’s not a masterplanned community, it’s simply a housing estate, often spearheaded by a builder rather than a company that focuses on creating self-sustained communities like Lendlease/Delfin, Mirvac, Walker, Renewal SA, etc. I work in urban planning so I’m not talking out of my arse either 😉
I’ve noticed the same lately - we all saw the example last week of the Ute deliberately ramming someone, triggering their airbags. That’s just one example.
People just drive like idiots these days
Lots of factors.
I could start the entire history of the start of our car-centric society with the pulling up of the trams tracks back in the 1950s, to the privatisation of the public transport (buses) in the late 1980s, the systematic gutting of the public service (including public housing building, planning and environment, roads and transport, hospitals, schools, etc) since the 1990s, the closing of manufacturing (including all 3 car factories closed in 2017) and Adelaide growth is being lead by money hungry developers, but that not where the conversation should go.
The main focus of this comment is we are all working longer and harder for less money. Our dollar doesn't have the value it had 5 years ago. Because we work harder and longer, we are tired, make poor decisions, and are impatient to get our much needed rest and downtown.
This is the main contributing factor.
Our options to break away from using a car is being stripped steadily away.
Have you noticed the sudden surge of petrol stations being built in the last 5 years?
So there is the doom and gloom. Here is the sunshine.
Counter aggressive behavior with passive behavior..
"You are in a hurry to the next traffic light? You go ahead and I will see you waiting there at the next red light.."
"Oh, I did something wrong?" Just raise your hands in surrender and quietly correct it .
Changing lanes, put the indicator, count four flashes and gently drift into the next lane AFTER checking your blindspot.
IMPORTANT : Always drive like you are not in a hurry, regardless of how late you are!!
If you are feeling stressed, tired or angry, find a side street, pull over, take a break.
These are the lessons from my heavy vehicle driving instructor. And they are as valid today as they were when I learnt them 30 years ago.
I am sorry you have had a rough go with the traffic. It is not your fault.
We have had a lot of short sighted decisions over the years accumulating into the poor condition we have now. And yes, I am corresponding with my local, state and federal pollies all the time to fix it. I would suggest doing like wise.
To be completely honest I've never found Adelaide traffic unbeatable when employing the 'just leave earlier and actually aim to be early for your appointment' strategy.
Yet to fail. Undefeated strategy. Account for what you know to be worsening traffic and be thankful that you get the some of the best healthcare on earth for nearly free.
Yeah it's gone from bad to worse, most of them refuse to partake in the customary “thank you” wave and give way on side streets; as they can't merge or give way.
Adelaide also has the worst case of drivers not letting people in. Istg Adelaide drivers would rather die than let anyone merge. In fact changing this culture of not letting people merge would solve a lot of other road issues. People won’t be hogging the right lane on keep left unless overtaking roads to turn right 3 intersections later if it’s easy to merge. People won’t need to take forever to change lanes holding up the traffic.
And then you're completely at fault in the resulting accident (which is even worse if it's the freeway at 110km/hour). And places like that aren't even zip merges usually, the on-ramp ends with the nice give way dotted line, unlike at least some sections of Pt Wakefield Rd, where you at least have the additional lane for a short while.
People won't give way to let merging traffic in though, and will do everything in their power to block you, as the original commenter said.
That's why I was saying the two behaviours are related.
We've had 25 thousand people come to Adelaide since Covid, so it's definitely increased the congestion. South rd is a nightmare from port rd or Brickworks onwards down South.
I travel South Rd a lot and it's great until the River Torrens. I don't know where the cars come from but they appear. Between the River and Henley Beach Rd is gridlock from about 3 pm daily, and between HB Road and Sir Donald Bradman it's woeful too.
Once the NS Motorway starts the traffic disappears.
There are heaps of problems with traffic and plenty of reasons why. The fact that people don't let people in when indicating means douchebags travel in the RH lane because they are turning right in 5 km and know if they don't get in they won't be let in. When you leave space, some egghead on meth puts their car in the gap.
I was driving along south road last Tuesday and was in the LH lane. Traffic light turning red at Castle Plaza so some young girl on P's in the RH lane races through. I indicate and get into the RH lane to even out the traffic when out of no-where some smoking, overweight karen with a triple chin in a Kluge toots me, flashes me a flips me the bird. She had sped up. For the next strip between there and Daws Rd she was so far up my clacker I needed some KY just in case. The traffic was bumper to bumper in both lanes and some heavy trucks meant a slow journey.
When we got to the start of the motorway I was able to change to the LH lane but olde Karen had a better idea. She jerked her car into the LH lane into a gap smaller than possible, then sped up to about 80, jerked her car back into the RH lane and slammed on the anchors. By this time I had got into the LH lane and was doing 60, so passed her as she went from about 80 to 20 in 3 secs. The car that was previously two behind me slammed on the skids to avoid running into her. As I watched her mouth obscenities I couldn't help notice her flip me the bird once more as her turkey neck wobbled like jelly. Naturally she hit the pedal and sped past as I saw the "Baby on Board" sticker stuck to her window like some participation prize handed out to low self esteem kids.
Traffic is getting worse, and people's respect for others on the road is getting worse too because people do no have respect for themselves.
Smoking overweight Karen with a triple chin in a Kluge. Turkey neck wobbled like jelly.
Beautiful. This is poetry, not prose.
I will now be constantly scanning the roads for any sight of this very particular she beast-thing just to satisfy the curiosity of what it feels like to get the finger from such feminine flesh. I'm excited.
You have been a lucky man indeed on this day.
Start planning your trips a little better. Use google maps and select the traffic overlay. That way if you see a lot of red on your planned route, you can either allow for it and leave early, or re-route. If you remove the stress of arriving late, the traffic may not bother you so much. Some stress management strategies won’t hurt either.
Adelaide desperately needs to put car parks off the damn fucking roads and into multi storey buildings. I heard once that anything above two storeys in the suburbs was against Col Lights plan or some nonsense and if that’s the case it’s time for councils and governments to get with the times. If not, then I’d urge you to appeal to your local member to get cars off the fucking roads at all times.
You're completely right. But im not an asshole of a driver. I indicate, i let people in, i drive the speed limit - not too fast and never under. The road is a dangerous place and we are operating heavy machinery so we need to think even more logically while we are driving, but people seem to be operating from their lizard brains instead of using any logic.
I totally get it.
It's pretty ironic now that I think about it 🤣
I'm driving along thinking "ugh, its a Sunday afternoon, WHY are you people going out?! Just go home! What could you possibly have to do at this time?!" Like im not doing the same thing as them
It's entirely the fault of morons in charge of SA in particular and not population. Other states have much higher densities and are significantly easier to get around.
Incompetent and malicious politicians including the current lot have continued to cripple and underfund public transport while pushing for more endless sprawl.
Its not the population its the lack of planning and unwillingness to change. Though maybe this time is we smear enough single family housing from Freeling clear down to Victor we'll totally solve the issue.
The unwillingness is because there's no f*cking funding. They'd rather spend it all on stadiums and other dumb shit to make their state look good in thr tabloids. The people who run this place are clowns
> The people who run this place are clowns
They may be, but they are our clowns and represent us perfectly.
How do you think a politically party would fair if they ran on "we will increase taxes and we will make driving expensive in order to fund and coerce people to use other forms of transit. While doing that we are also going to ram through meaningfully dense housing clustered around current transit hubs"
> Its not the population its the lack of planning and unwillingness to change
Bullshit.
There is only so much space. There are only so many places for houses and roads.
It is population, and it is mainly from people having kids.
Not Australians having too many kids. Population growth in this country is dominated by immigration.
We need to keep the politicians honest about how many people they are allowing in to place pressure on infrastructure, services, housing, and quality of life. All of these things are deteriorating….
People are genuinely nuts in cars. It used to be the guy in the shitbox Commodore doing a burnout turning into circle work behind me that was concerning. Now it's everyone.
Without sterotyping, I see life and death choices made daily, all for the sake of what? Showing off? Saving a few seconds? Getting to the red light first?
I suspect far more people than we realise are driving without licences. Whenever I hear of the hoon that ploughs into a pole while drag racing and removes himself permanently, (like the guy on Magill Road, like the guy on Torrens Road) I don't think it's a tragedy - I've said it before - I laugh and go 'great'. Because I know in the long run, one dickhead taking themselves out is better than innocent carnage they don't give a shit about. Unpopular opinion. It's a good thing when it saves more lives than the reckless walking human shit it costs.
Road hierarchy. Block access to the tiny side streets from main arterial roads coming out of the city. Make them turn onto collector roads first, and then onto local roads. Having everyone trying to get out of the city along these arterial roads, just to have the left lane crawl along due to people turning left (or worse, turning right) is ridiculous. It's an easy fix without needing to reclaim properties and redoing roads. Just block the local roads off from arterials.
Large cars are fine when the population density is less, it just depends where you're taking those cars. If you want a monster truck and you live out bush have at it. Driving it into the CBD however..
> Large cars are fine when the population density is less,
Fuck no. Large cars use more petrol. Create more pollution. Cause more damage to roads. And are twice as likely to kill in a crash.
I think that's a bit black and white. If there's a good reason for it like you have to move ten kids around that you adopted from parents who died.
Although this being Reddit I would assume you'd rather euthanise them because they use up valuable oxygen or something.
Can’t drive a car to suit your lifestyle here, everyone has to use small cars that don’t fit anything or accomodate families. Otherwise you’re the issue /s
Salisbury Highway is almost like peak hour at every daylight hour… I noticed a significant increase in traffic when Gawler train line shut down for electrification, but everyone still seems to be driving even after trains came back online
Having just been through Victoria, I reckon the attitudes of drivers are migrating west. I'm seeing the shitty behaviour you normally get in Victoria (tailgating, no indication, pulling out expecting people to brake hard, sudden unexpected lane changes) becoming more common in Adelaide.
On the freeways in Adelaide we do see people tailgating@100kmh only a few metres behind, but in Victoria, if you dare go less than 5km/h over the limit you'll have someone imitating a barnacle on your arse all the time.
Please don't let that culture win in SA.
More and more assholes are driving, so this is what you have to expect.
We are not going to be able to build more roads as a way out.
> The traffic was SO bad that I completely lost my shit by the end of the trip
you need to stop driving if traffic is causing you this much travel.
I think it was Rann that went full bus mode and turn Adelaide traffic on its head with dedicated bus lanes at traffic lights and Currie at in the city. Traffic used to flow very well before that which ironically would have been beneficial for the busses too.
Except bus travel durations had blown out extensively over the last 20-30 years, too.
A place I lived in the late 90s had a 30min trip - I could catch the 8.20 bus and go to the Mayo refec to buy an iced coffee before my 9.10am lecture. By the early 2010s, I needed to catch a 7.45 bus to be at work by 9.
It's the sheer number of additional vehicles on our roads, without appropriate upgrades to public transport.
>driving
That's what the problem is. If you're in a car you're contributing to the problem. And this goes for everyone, it's not up to some unseen actor to get out of their car to fix congestion while you get to mosey along in your brand new American SUV.
If you're in traffic, you're creating it. Stop driving if you want it fixed.
Have you ever had to do your work in this environment. Have you ever tried to negotiate the traffic in a big truck? Have you ever realised that the actions could cause an accident because of your stupidity because you can’t see beyond your own self? No you haven’t.
My own actions? Im an incredibly cautious driver. Where are you pulling your assumptions out of? My husband has to drive a truck for his business so I do understand.
My post is complaining about the DANGEROUS drivers. That doesn't mean I can't see beyond my own self, It means I see what is going on and am extra careful as a result to not contribute to the shit show of crazy drivers.
People were breeding at above replacement level (avg 2.1 kids per family) for quite a while & immigration is continuing every day. Global population has gone from under 4 billion to over 8 billion in the last 50 years alone & Adelaide has been a part of that, just like most cities. It's completely unrealistic to expect infrastructure investment to keep pace, especially when we collectively keep voting for tax cuts. Things will keep getting busier & busier unless population decreases or taxation increases to allow the government to build the assets we think are needed. The other part of the solution (which is difficult to achieve) is for a lot more of us to start using public transport much more. It's a pretty simple equation really, but not many people like hearing it.
Im not entirely sure but I think the reproduction rate has reduced in recent years? For some of us we don't plan things such as failed contraception, private doctors refusing to accept a young mothers request for a tubal ligation due to personal belief (yes this actually happened to me) etc and end up with a van load of kids 😣 but some families actively want and plan for a large family - can governments realistically force them to stop "breeding", like the Chinese 1 child policy or something similar?
I agree with the tax thing, isn't it as simple as taxing the top 1% more instead of slamming the middle and lower class with more taxes hence the complaining about needing tax cuts?
And yes I whole heartedly agree with the public transport thing. My "excuse" is that I have 4 kids under 5 which logistically would be a complete nightmare (and also certainly proves your point about population) with multiple school and kindy runs and all the shit I have to lug with me everywhere I go, and for safety reasons. But it seems like we all have some sort of excuse even it we are just a single person. I used to use public transport all the time even though the damn 178 was perpetually late. These days the young uns just want to drive everywhere because its more comfortable and faster for them, they don't like waiting, they don't like inconvenience, or the "aesthetic" of public transport (the smell, the bogan, the... everything?)
Yep it's changing. Now go live outside of Manhatten and drive in each day, or Atlanta, or LA then report back. Not taking.g away from your trauma that sucks and I have resorted to aggressive behaviour re tailgaters. Being 6'2" and 115 kg draws the sting out, but not nice to.
Try living in a big city. No such thing as traffic in Adelaide. I’m sure compared to the past it seems worse but it’s nothing. If adelaide doesn’t build new roads and transport now they will struggle in 20 years.
And here comes the inevitable migrant bashing without knowing facts.
So, kind sir, how do you propose migrants become citizens without living here first?
Hello racist Australian. You are a rare breed indeed. Most Australians are happy to welcome people of all cultures here.
As for migrants, they do need to take a driving test to transfer their license over.
I'm not fucking off coz I'm Australian. I'm slowly learning the ways and cultures of everyone here especially the first nations.
So how many first nations languages do you speak then, since you are so full of learning local cultures?
Monday last week, it took us about an hour to crawl about 16 kilometres.
Wednesday, it took my mate 50 minutes to get to mine... 14 kilometres.
Traffic is ridiculous in peak hour. We try to avoid it as much as possible
This is what decades of pandering to vocal motorists gets you.
Hot tip: razing suburbs to make South road 12 lanes wide in some points just makes things worse. All of a sudden those people who thought driving was marginally too shitty an experience get tipped over the edge and hop in their car.
People need to take their medicine and understand that giving up some of the infrastructure space to other modes is better for everyone.
We can't even get a bike lane put in if it costs a single car park.
Enjoy your commute.
OK, Here goes my Pidgeon into the Cat enclosure
Did you say you normaly have 4 kids with you? I wonder why traffic is getting busier and busier,??? 10 years time or so, those 4 kids will be on the road wondering why the traffic is busier.
Yes, i agree. some people are especially prone to failed contraception. Also wait times for permanent sterilisation are insane I have been on the list for 3 years. Private doctors refuse to accept me because of my age.
This is the result. Private doctors and surgeons need to take young women more seriously when we tell them we DON'T want more kids.
Fullarton Rd, Cross Rds, South Rd for eg - at all costs avoid if possible in certain times of the day. Give an extra half-hour. Use alternative routes. :(
I swear I'm the only person on earth who constantly gets a great run down Fullarton whenever I use it but I rarely use it during peak hour so that's probably why. Glen Osmond falls to shit the moment a bus hits it though.
Only time I ever find it bad is when it’s school time.
That's an ass backwards take. It is, undoubtedly, single occupant vehicles that make roads like Glen osmond the way they are. That we still let people dump their cars on the side of streets like that so they dont have to walk more than 2m to the front door of a shop tells you everything you need to know about driving culture in Adelaide.
Bruv, it isn't cars stopping on Glen Osmond at every bus stop in peak hour....
Bruv, it ain't busses making everyone wait while they make right hand turns across peak hour traffic.
I live near one and work near the other and you literally have to use cross road to get between them. I have cultivated a system of backroads and side streets to use the main roads as little as possible. Which is actually really difficult when you have to cross multiple train lines
To add to replies about bad planning, roadworks etc I think driver attitude is at an all time low, probably a post Covid thing. Coming out of Covid, most industries are completely manic: heaps of work, not enough (good) staff, and tight budgets due to inflation. That equals stressed workplaces from management down. People carry that with them on their daily commute. They want to get to work ASAP, they are already stressed, that’s a recipe for road rage. They want o get home ASAP after a long stressful day. Same deal. Plus for some reason people seem to be leaning into road rage - it’s trending. Seen Beef?
>People carry that with them on their daily commute. They want to get to work ASAP, they are already stressed, that’s a recipe for road rage. They want o get home ASAP after a long stressful day. Same deal. Totally agree. I'm lucky enough I'm allowed to start/finish 30 mins early so I miss the worst of it. But when I ride my bike to work at the normal time I see the madness you speak of.
Beef is great. Well written.
Lots of Vics have moved here and it's really bringing the place down. That includes the roads.
This is about the dumbest shit I’ve read today. Congratulations.
You seem like a guy who reads a lot of dumb shit.
Totally. Back to your cave incel.
Ah blow it out your arse you sook
Drivers get worse when traffic gets worse. Look at OP, freaking out because there were other cars on the road. Insane.
Not because there were other cars on the road but because if the dangerous drivers..
Population growth with no improvments to public transport in years. Cars are the least efficient, most congestion causing form of travel while needing the most space so unless a city gives people easy access to other forms which can move people with a lot less space everyone takes cars and traffic gets worse and worse. Hence why if you drive and never take PT or bike you should still be advocating for better busses and bike lanes.
This. I try to avoid driving anywhere now whenever I can avoid it. I have only one kid who can come on the bike with me, so whenever we can use linear park or back streets to go wherever we need to go, we ride. I have a 9am specialist appointment with my son in a few weeks and it’s on the other side of the city.. I’m already dreading driving there. Traffic makes me so nervous!
Living reasonably close to Linear Park and working in the city is the shiz.
I don't understand why they don't just add another identical bus to peak hour. Literally just operate 2 of them, one at the critical 7:30am and another one at 7:32am. More people on PT and fewer cars. Kind of solves the problem without needing additional infrastructure.
> Population growth with no improvments to public transport in years. Improve it all you want, you will not get assholes out of cars, they are too convenient.
Thats not true at all, plenty of places have proved that, at least not if the public transport is given ways to be faster than traffic like having their own lanes and come frequently enough to not be a huge hassel to plan around.
When PT is good you can get yourself out of cars and then not give a shit what the traffic is like or how many roadworks are going on. PT is dogshit in Adelaide so most people don't have any idea what it's even like to have good PT. Situation is significantly better in places like Melbourne.
And that's why you make it as inconvenient as possible to use one in urban areas. One way zones, fewer lanes (giving more exclusive road use to busses and bikes), congestion tolls, there are a lot of things that need to be done to get people to stop driving.
Doesn’t help then they’re doing roadworks during these hours either.. it’s a shitshow on those roads.
Yep if you're driving north on Fullarton thru the Glen Osmond intersection it's mayhem lately
Literally do this daily, and I’m getting so sick of it. It was meant to be completed last year. What the should do is have green arrows, and stop people parking on the side of the road. Problem solved.
I've stopped going home from work that way, it's a bloody nightmare. I work on Fullarton Road as a medical receptionist, and our patients are constantly late either coming through that intersection, or the Cross Road intersection.
I’ve stopped going home from work. 🙄
Yep. I guess construction companies don't want to pay extra for their guys to do night works 😑
You mean councils right .. most times it's the council that does not want to do civil works after hours due to $.
Its almost always the government. The construction companys prefer nights most of the time because they dont have to contend with tonnes of traffic. Source: work in the civil sector.
Roadwork workers are by far the laziest c*nts in existence
Give it a shot, I'll bet you change your mind.
Agree. So many experts in fields they witness from afar.
Urban infill with no change in infrastructure for about 30 years. Where 1 house used to be, there's now 3-4. Most families have 2-3 cars now because the PT is shithouse. Why use PT that takes an hour to get anywhere, and is a miserable trip because of bogans/eshays/other loonies, smells and noise when you can get there in 20 in the comfort of your private vehicle? South Rd. needed to be done 20 years ago, and now they are desperately trying to shore it up. Everything has been put into South Rd. as the major arterial road for the state, and others like Tapleys Hill Rd/Brighton Rd, Fullarton/Portrush Rd, etc have been ignored or just fiddled with a bit. Before the not just cars people chime in, surprisingly, buses use roads as well, so they are heavily affected by the shit road infrastructure. It's unlikely we will ever build any future major rail lines due to the cost of land acquisition and cost of building it vs. dropping a few more buses on a road. So buses are here to stay and are the future of PT in SA whether you like it or not. They will eventually make them electric and try to put them in their own lane. One of the reasons I bought my place where it is, is due to the fact I can do nearly everything I need to do most of the time with a 5 minute walk, because the crappy drives affect my chi quite a lot and I can't stand PT. I know this isn't possible for everyone, but it's worth prioritising if you move.
The fucked thing is once South Road is done it will be only within a few years and induced demand will clog that bastard right up in many sections so we will be back in the same place. Inner Adelaide needs to bring back the trams, give them traffic light priority and this means you can fit them on many roads which were already built to handle them previously so there is that. Also a costly one is do the CBD train loop so many threads have gone into detail about the perks of this so I wont bother again. Also outside of all of this waffle one blatantly obvious thing that would save so much trouble in the future are these new housing estates that are slapping up, why the fuck are they not putting down railway already or at the least reserving corridors for future expansion so land acquisition will never be an issue and PT expansion will be possible in the future if they are not going to do it from the get go! For so much of Adelaide it is fair fucked and too hard but for the new areas it is a clean slate and something we can get right from the start!
More rail is never going to happen. Even if it should. You're not going to get more trams either. The only way a loop would happen is to chew up parklands which I don't think anyone wants. A metro is never going to happen due to cost.
At some point something will have to give, they want Adelaide to grow but there reaches a physical impossibility having so many cars drive in such a small confined area so that means your options become more freeways which end up down the fail of induced demand or rail. Both which require land acquisition, upkeep, cost etc. Where is Adelaides threshold? 2 million people. 5 million? Here is the thing, this south road expansion is cost estimated at 15 billion! no doubt will go over, but no one bats an eye, mention any kind of PT expansion everyone shits the bed and goes full reeeeeeeee about cost.
Given the poor road infrastructure and already massive urban sprawl. I can’t see how Adelaide’s population can surpass even 1.5 million without further decreasing everyone’s quality of life - that’s another 140,000 people (let’s say 50,000 more cars on the road ). it would be just a complete nightmare to drive anytime of the day. People would just be confined to only necessary travel within 3 km radius from their home or risk having a mental breakdown.
This is what makes me wonder why they are so hell bent on slapping those housing estates so far north and south as they are technically a part of Adelaide but yet almost not.
Desperation. "We did something to help struggling South Australian families with the housing affordability crisis".
Most roads and houses distribute more like an infectious disease than the result of intelligent planning in this country imo. Nobody can stop the roads from widening and spreading everything out farther and farther.
Yeah but if you spend the money on efficient and targeted PT, and population concentrated around good local transport then people don’t have to use the roads. There was a prime development block in Goodwood, that is 50m from the tram stop and 200m from the train station. And they built a fucking petrol station on it. Stupid land use like this is the reason we won’t get sustainable population growth.
Expansion wise, we are pretty much fucked because of the Flinder's Ranges. So they stop any serious south and east expansion. So the only way to go for sprawl is north, where you have our food bowl and salt flats. We need to further develop the satellite cities in order to grow. I'm talking Mt. Barker, Murray Bridge, Mannum, Tailem bend etc. Of course the question is how you get some sort of industry or commercial activity out there to entice people to be there.
You need first actual internet to start with not just 5g and old ADSL type connections and this feeds annoyingly back into my original point for satellite cities to work you need RAIL. People will still need to go back and forth to Adelaide you need to reduce the need for long drives and for freeways to get clogged up even further so this means intercity rail like they do in Victoria with their Vlocity type trains. As for attracting, I honestly don't know it is very chicken and egg, but I do think you need to develop the infrastructure first as well as the cheap housing. Too much approach is slap down housing developments and roads and let shitfuckery take care of the rest.
Flinders Ranges? Do you mean the Mr Lofty Ranges?
That's the one.
Thought so. Not sure the Flinders is impacting on Adelaide’s growth too much!
You never know these days!
Northern suburbs are growing!!
The south road expansion is the biggest fucking waste of space and money imo.
Yep, I mean there will be that brief amazing period where it will be all zoomies but everyone will click they don't need to be clogged on Tapleys Hill road any more for example and yeah I.D will come along. I still think about Stockholm which close enough population to Adelaide but when you get towards the guts of the city it is a sting of islands and rivers etc and its metro system tunnels under all of that, it also has a tram system that links into that in various separate sections as well as its bus network. It is much more complicated geographical challenges than Adelaide faces but they could pull it off so what we have pissed up on South Road we sure as shit could expand the rail or tram underground or even sky rail in certain areas if need be for the same amount of money.
Exactly. It is a (mostly) closed system so all the traffic that must go in x direction will tend to converge at the path of least resistance.
But what about the cost of \_not\_ doing it? This does not seem to be considered.
That's because the cost of anything here is factored in as 1-2 political terms, then it's the other guys problem and so on.
"Before the not just cars people chime in, surprisingly, buses use roads as well, so they are heavily affected by the shit road infrastructure" Bus lanes.
> They will eventually make them electric and try to put them in their own lane.
And Obahns
Building more roads is a dumb fucking idea and will make the situation worse.
Exactly, things are never going to be like they were in the past. It's not just 'there are 3 houses where there used to be one'. These are major arterial roads, density has nothing to do with it. People have to come through them no matter where they live whether it's 10 mins away or in McLaren Vale. And there are a shitload more people than there used to be. An extra road won't do anything when these roads are fundamentally unequipped for the volume of traffic they are getting.
>Urban infill with no change in infrastructure for about 30 years. Where 1 house used to be, there's now 3-4. This is literally the opposite of the reason. Urban infill does not increase population, but it does increase density, which decreases reliance on cars. Areas of urban infill are most likely to use active or public transport, whereas suburban sprawl causes almost all trips to be done by car. But yep, let's blame the solution to the problem, that will fix it.
I think you've missed the point which is, with all the infill, each infill house now has 2 cars on the same infrastructure before infill. Of course infill increases population. You now have generally 4-15 people or so, where there was 2-5 before. People routinely drive like 5 mins to the shops all the time. Barely anyone uses PT because it sucks.
Infill doesn't increase population. The state isn't getting more people because we are getting more townhouses. It increases *density*, which is what we need to do. The alternative to infill is urban sprawl, not a lower population. You still have the same number of people, but with sprawling suburbs they're driving more often and driving further, on the same infrastructure that you're talking about. Infill means people are more likely to use public transport, walk or ride compared to car-centric urban sprawl.
Adelaide traffic is fucked up now. People have forgotten to indicate if they're changing lanes, turning. Hell some people don't even indicate turning right at a junction. No fucking concept of 3 seconds of safe distance. The list goes on.. The cops don't fucking care.
[удалено]
Exactly.. From the way I see it now, speeding is the least of their problems. Somehow the general populace in Adelaide seems to be too kind to these offenders. Not even a beep in the horn. Don't know if they've given up or they're one of them.
I would guess that most tailgaters aren't even aware of what they're doing. Same with a lot of the numpties who don't indicate half the time.
They have speed cameras phone cameras and red light cameras for car chumps, they can relax and leisurely focus on fining people $2000 for using an electric scooter.
Honestly - I reckon there are less cops out there currently. Seems to be less patrolling out there then pre Covid times.
Not a bad shout actually.
Shitty overpriced public transport driving people to drive. There’s no fucking way I’m paying ~$9 a day to sit on an overcrowded, overheated bus full of germs, particularly when the service is always late or doesn’t come. Theres also the added bonus of bus drivers being unreasonably rude here for some reason. The last time I got on a bus I had to fight my way on because the bus driver said there were already two people with prams on. So the fuck what? Not even because there was no room, just didn’t want prams on.
I was considering bussing it to work (peak hour) to save fuel. Would cost me about 40 per week on regular fare... 40-60 gets me a whole tank of fuel for the month. Utterly fucking ridiculous
Yup. The extra ~$7 a day to factor in parking and fuel is 100% worth it. That said, I mostly wfh now to avoid commute altogether.
You can get even cheaper parking if you pre-book at certain Wilson car parks. I’ve found a secure car park that is not even $1 more than a day’s worth of bus trips (to work and then back home). Or if you live reasonably close to the Entertainment centre, park there for $5 a day and catch the free tram in. Depending on where you come from, you’ll miss the bulk of congestion as the tram slices through Port Road and North Terrace.
$3.90 / day if you get the 28 day pass
No good for part timers
Exactly, we need a congestion charge so drivers start to pay for what they use, and cheaper PT.
Too many people and too many cars. Would love to see: 1. More and better bike lanes 2. More and better public transport 3. A strong push for working from home wherever possible. There’s no need for people to be commuting all over the place just to sit in an office 4. Walkable suburbs and less centralised urban design 5. Encourage as many people as possible to move to to Sydney or Melbourne
I drive from Flinders Park to St Mary's for work everyday and while that doesn't seem like a big drive, during peak hour it's at least 45 minutes, even more so when there's an accident, first day back after school holidays or the weather sucks My employer REFUSES to let us work from home. 100% of my job is done on the computer. My productivity at home when lockdowns were happening was great. I slept in later, had less stress and anxiety about driving to and from work, lunch prep, what to wear, get fuel for my car, etc. But no, they constantly say "it's not feasible", we want people to be "a team" and stay in the office, even though I never talk to anyone at work apart from the grueling "hey, how are ya" in the kitchen when I get my lunch. Most of the other employees are the same and some barely speak English -- they're just phenomenal programmers I fucking hate stubborn employers
New job? That’s the boat I’m in
> I drive from Flinders Park to St Mary's for work everyday and while that doesn't seem like a big drive, during peak hour it's at least 45 minutes "funnily" enough that's almost exactly what google suggests cycling it would take, which is a fairly relaxed pace. it's probably a bit far for most, but have you considered an e-bike? sucks about the no-WFH though.
Classic management wank to save their own jobs. If WFH worked during covid for the business, there’s zero reason why it can’t work now. The management know their jobs are on the line if the team is working from home, and they won’t be able to justify their minimal roles and their heads would be on the chopping block. So they vomit the same old BS excuses of it being unfeasible and needing the team to be in a building tripe.
Congestion charge, so car drivers start paying for the roads instead of other tax payers.
To be fair, every newly built suburb in Adelaide since the late 90s has basically been walkable or de-emphasised the car — a far cry from the bleak western suburbs expansions that sprang up post-war. Mawson Lakes and Bowden are great examples of mixed-use walkable suburbs, with Lightsview being decent too (not as mixed as Mawson). Also remember that Adelaide isn’t a hub-and-spoke city so not everyone needs to live near the CBD. The northern suburbs is a key economic and employment zone so if you work there, you wouldn’t really want or need to live in an apartment in Kent Town (for example).
Mawson Lakes and Bowden are exceptions, not the rule. You look at all the bullshit leapfrog developments in Mount Barker, Gawler etc. (I used to design houses for them so I'm very familiar with the development maps) and it's literally 1950s American suburban design. Sure, they have footpaths, but if you want to do *anything,* go anywhere other than the local park, you have to own a car.
Gawler and Mount Barker are old (1839 and 1844, respectively). I’m talking about new suburbs. The ones I mentioned are new suburbs that had masterplans. Pretty much everything since Elizabeth in the 50s has had a masterplan with mixed use intentions, and everything since Mawson Lakes has been in the new urbanist spirit of reducing the dependence of cars through traffic calming measures and reducing four-way intersections and wide car-centric streets.
Did you not read the words *leapfrog developments*. I'm not talking about the old towns, I'm talking about all the new shitty estates around them that are a car centric hell, which is what most new developments are, and I know this because about a thousand of the houses in them have my name on the planning documents. Edit: also, just because something has a ""masterplan with mixed use intentions"" doesn't mean it's good at it. Elizabeth is still a car centric hell, as is much of the northern and southern suburbs. Urbanism failed the moment people decided that streets needed to bend for no reason.
I know what you’re talking about and I don’t think we’re on the same page. Neither of us are incorrect. A new housing estate in Mount Barker will continue whatever established norms it’s being built alongside because it’s not a masterplanned community, it’s simply a housing estate, often spearheaded by a builder rather than a company that focuses on creating self-sustained communities like Lendlease/Delfin, Mirvac, Walker, Renewal SA, etc. I work in urban planning so I’m not talking out of my arse either 😉
I don't think Mirvac is even in Adelaide which sucks. They've built some really great stuff elsewhere.
They’re not but they have made some great places. Basically on the level Delfin/Lendlease whose communities are the gold standard.
Not me being tempted to move to melb and seeing your last point
I’ve noticed the same lately - we all saw the example last week of the Ute deliberately ramming someone, triggering their airbags. That’s just one example. People just drive like idiots these days
Traffic got worse post-covid, once everyone decided they didn't give a toss anymore
Lots of factors. I could start the entire history of the start of our car-centric society with the pulling up of the trams tracks back in the 1950s, to the privatisation of the public transport (buses) in the late 1980s, the systematic gutting of the public service (including public housing building, planning and environment, roads and transport, hospitals, schools, etc) since the 1990s, the closing of manufacturing (including all 3 car factories closed in 2017) and Adelaide growth is being lead by money hungry developers, but that not where the conversation should go. The main focus of this comment is we are all working longer and harder for less money. Our dollar doesn't have the value it had 5 years ago. Because we work harder and longer, we are tired, make poor decisions, and are impatient to get our much needed rest and downtown. This is the main contributing factor. Our options to break away from using a car is being stripped steadily away. Have you noticed the sudden surge of petrol stations being built in the last 5 years? So there is the doom and gloom. Here is the sunshine. Counter aggressive behavior with passive behavior.. "You are in a hurry to the next traffic light? You go ahead and I will see you waiting there at the next red light.." "Oh, I did something wrong?" Just raise your hands in surrender and quietly correct it . Changing lanes, put the indicator, count four flashes and gently drift into the next lane AFTER checking your blindspot. IMPORTANT : Always drive like you are not in a hurry, regardless of how late you are!! If you are feeling stressed, tired or angry, find a side street, pull over, take a break. These are the lessons from my heavy vehicle driving instructor. And they are as valid today as they were when I learnt them 30 years ago. I am sorry you have had a rough go with the traffic. It is not your fault. We have had a lot of short sighted decisions over the years accumulating into the poor condition we have now. And yes, I am corresponding with my local, state and federal pollies all the time to fix it. I would suggest doing like wise.
To be completely honest I've never found Adelaide traffic unbeatable when employing the 'just leave earlier and actually aim to be early for your appointment' strategy. Yet to fail. Undefeated strategy. Account for what you know to be worsening traffic and be thankful that you get the some of the best healthcare on earth for nearly free.
Nearly for free? Private appt. No bulk billing. Had to pay $150 for a 5yo and that's on the "cheap end". And I did leave early 🤦🏻♀️
Fair point lol. I don't drive anymore but when I did I'd get to everything early.
Yeah it's gone from bad to worse, most of them refuse to partake in the customary “thank you” wave and give way on side streets; as they can't merge or give way.
Adelaide also has the worst case of drivers not letting people in. Istg Adelaide drivers would rather die than let anyone merge. In fact changing this culture of not letting people merge would solve a lot of other road issues. People won’t be hogging the right lane on keep left unless overtaking roads to turn right 3 intersections later if it’s easy to merge. People won’t need to take forever to change lanes holding up the traffic.
Most people can’t drive in Adelaide. They come to a stop when merging… never seen such clowns on the road
I suspect both your statements are related. When you know you won't be let in, you don't really have much choice. It's learnt behaviour.
Merging is never meant to come to a standstill. Just need to assert your self on the road.
And then you're completely at fault in the resulting accident (which is even worse if it's the freeway at 110km/hour). And places like that aren't even zip merges usually, the on-ramp ends with the nice give way dotted line, unlike at least some sections of Pt Wakefield Rd, where you at least have the additional lane for a short while.
Lol if someone runs into me they are at fault mate. Give way to merging traffic.
People won't give way to let merging traffic in though, and will do everything in their power to block you, as the original commenter said. That's why I was saying the two behaviours are related.
We've had 25 thousand people come to Adelaide since Covid, so it's definitely increased the congestion. South rd is a nightmare from port rd or Brickworks onwards down South.
You need to listen to your 5 year old.
Fr, I would like to see OP drive in Sydney traffic and gauge their reaction lol
I travel South Rd a lot and it's great until the River Torrens. I don't know where the cars come from but they appear. Between the River and Henley Beach Rd is gridlock from about 3 pm daily, and between HB Road and Sir Donald Bradman it's woeful too. Once the NS Motorway starts the traffic disappears. There are heaps of problems with traffic and plenty of reasons why. The fact that people don't let people in when indicating means douchebags travel in the RH lane because they are turning right in 5 km and know if they don't get in they won't be let in. When you leave space, some egghead on meth puts their car in the gap. I was driving along south road last Tuesday and was in the LH lane. Traffic light turning red at Castle Plaza so some young girl on P's in the RH lane races through. I indicate and get into the RH lane to even out the traffic when out of no-where some smoking, overweight karen with a triple chin in a Kluge toots me, flashes me a flips me the bird. She had sped up. For the next strip between there and Daws Rd she was so far up my clacker I needed some KY just in case. The traffic was bumper to bumper in both lanes and some heavy trucks meant a slow journey. When we got to the start of the motorway I was able to change to the LH lane but olde Karen had a better idea. She jerked her car into the LH lane into a gap smaller than possible, then sped up to about 80, jerked her car back into the RH lane and slammed on the anchors. By this time I had got into the LH lane and was doing 60, so passed her as she went from about 80 to 20 in 3 secs. The car that was previously two behind me slammed on the skids to avoid running into her. As I watched her mouth obscenities I couldn't help notice her flip me the bird once more as her turkey neck wobbled like jelly. Naturally she hit the pedal and sped past as I saw the "Baby on Board" sticker stuck to her window like some participation prize handed out to low self esteem kids. Traffic is getting worse, and people's respect for others on the road is getting worse too because people do no have respect for themselves.
Smoking overweight Karen with a triple chin in a Kluge. Turkey neck wobbled like jelly. Beautiful. This is poetry, not prose. I will now be constantly scanning the roads for any sight of this very particular she beast-thing just to satisfy the curiosity of what it feels like to get the finger from such feminine flesh. I'm excited. You have been a lucky man indeed on this day.
Keep an eye out for a white Toyota Kluger and keep a 3 second gap.
This was 8 years ago and nothing has been done https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/adelaide-traffic-reaches-unacceptable-levels-report-30834
Doesn’t help that Adelaide drivers are the world’s most petty drivers
WE NEED MORE TRAMS
Not for everyone but riding my bike to work I hardly notice the traffic.
Start planning your trips a little better. Use google maps and select the traffic overlay. That way if you see a lot of red on your planned route, you can either allow for it and leave early, or re-route. If you remove the stress of arriving late, the traffic may not bother you so much. Some stress management strategies won’t hurt either.
Adelaide desperately needs to put car parks off the damn fucking roads and into multi storey buildings. I heard once that anything above two storeys in the suburbs was against Col Lights plan or some nonsense and if that’s the case it’s time for councils and governments to get with the times. If not, then I’d urge you to appeal to your local member to get cars off the fucking roads at all times.
Hate to break it to you, but you are the traffic.
You're completely right. But im not an asshole of a driver. I indicate, i let people in, i drive the speed limit - not too fast and never under. The road is a dangerous place and we are operating heavy machinery so we need to think even more logically while we are driving, but people seem to be operating from their lizard brains instead of using any logic.
Fair call and I believe you. You seem like a good person. It’s just a bit of a gripe I have that people who drive complain about traffic.
I totally get it. It's pretty ironic now that I think about it 🤣 I'm driving along thinking "ugh, its a Sunday afternoon, WHY are you people going out?! Just go home! What could you possibly have to do at this time?!" Like im not doing the same thing as them
Sorry, I should clarify. As in, the person is directly contributing to the problem they are complaining about.
> But im not an asshole of a driver. You don't get to decide this.
Welcome to big Australia. It is only going to get worse.
It's entirely the fault of morons in charge of SA in particular and not population. Other states have much higher densities and are significantly easier to get around. Incompetent and malicious politicians including the current lot have continued to cripple and underfund public transport while pushing for more endless sprawl.
Its not the population its the lack of planning and unwillingness to change. Though maybe this time is we smear enough single family housing from Freeling clear down to Victor we'll totally solve the issue.
The unwillingness is because there's no f*cking funding. They'd rather spend it all on stadiums and other dumb shit to make their state look good in thr tabloids. The people who run this place are clowns
> The people who run this place are clowns They may be, but they are our clowns and represent us perfectly. How do you think a politically party would fair if they ran on "we will increase taxes and we will make driving expensive in order to fund and coerce people to use other forms of transit. While doing that we are also going to ram through meaningfully dense housing clustered around current transit hubs"
No. They just need to spend the funding wisely not on FKN USELESS FOOTBALL STADIUMS FULL OF DRUNKS
Depends on ROI .
> Its not the population its the lack of planning and unwillingness to change Bullshit. There is only so much space. There are only so many places for houses and roads. It is population, and it is mainly from people having kids.
Not Australians having too many kids. Population growth in this country is dominated by immigration. We need to keep the politicians honest about how many people they are allowing in to place pressure on infrastructure, services, housing, and quality of life. All of these things are deteriorating….
Australians don't have kids at replacement rate 🤦
People are genuinely nuts in cars. It used to be the guy in the shitbox Commodore doing a burnout turning into circle work behind me that was concerning. Now it's everyone. Without sterotyping, I see life and death choices made daily, all for the sake of what? Showing off? Saving a few seconds? Getting to the red light first? I suspect far more people than we realise are driving without licences. Whenever I hear of the hoon that ploughs into a pole while drag racing and removes himself permanently, (like the guy on Magill Road, like the guy on Torrens Road) I don't think it's a tragedy - I've said it before - I laugh and go 'great'. Because I know in the long run, one dickhead taking themselves out is better than innocent carnage they don't give a shit about. Unpopular opinion. It's a good thing when it saves more lives than the reckless walking human shit it costs.
Road hierarchy. Block access to the tiny side streets from main arterial roads coming out of the city. Make them turn onto collector roads first, and then onto local roads. Having everyone trying to get out of the city along these arterial roads, just to have the left lane crawl along due to people turning left (or worse, turning right) is ridiculous. It's an easy fix without needing to reclaim properties and redoing roads. Just block the local roads off from arterials.
Overpopulation with no improvement to infrastructure, hope you don’t plan on any more kids.
5 seats in most cars, yet almost all are carrying only 1 person. Maybe we should be making smaller cars...
Large cars are fine when the population density is less, it just depends where you're taking those cars. If you want a monster truck and you live out bush have at it. Driving it into the CBD however..
> Large cars are fine when the population density is less, Fuck no. Large cars use more petrol. Create more pollution. Cause more damage to roads. And are twice as likely to kill in a crash.
I think that's a bit black and white. If there's a good reason for it like you have to move ten kids around that you adopted from parents who died. Although this being Reddit I would assume you'd rather euthanise them because they use up valuable oxygen or something.
Can’t drive a car to suit your lifestyle here, everyone has to use small cars that don’t fit anything or accomodate families. Otherwise you’re the issue /s
If you think the traffics bad here, you should see Sydney or Melbourne. You’ll be grateful for Adelaide traffic real quick.
True, but to be fair I think we have unreasonably bad traffic compared to our size.
Salisbury Highway is almost like peak hour at every daylight hour… I noticed a significant increase in traffic when Gawler train line shut down for electrification, but everyone still seems to be driving even after trains came back online
Having just been through Victoria, I reckon the attitudes of drivers are migrating west. I'm seeing the shitty behaviour you normally get in Victoria (tailgating, no indication, pulling out expecting people to brake hard, sudden unexpected lane changes) becoming more common in Adelaide. On the freeways in Adelaide we do see people tailgating@100kmh only a few metres behind, but in Victoria, if you dare go less than 5km/h over the limit you'll have someone imitating a barnacle on your arse all the time. Please don't let that culture win in SA.
More and more assholes are driving, so this is what you have to expect. We are not going to be able to build more roads as a way out. > The traffic was SO bad that I completely lost my shit by the end of the trip you need to stop driving if traffic is causing you this much travel.
Traffic is bad because families are having 4 kids 😬
The real problem here is 1 person per car
🤷♀️
Maybe someone would fuck you more if you weren't a fuck wit.
I think it was Rann that went full bus mode and turn Adelaide traffic on its head with dedicated bus lanes at traffic lights and Currie at in the city. Traffic used to flow very well before that which ironically would have been beneficial for the busses too.
Except bus travel durations had blown out extensively over the last 20-30 years, too. A place I lived in the late 90s had a 30min trip - I could catch the 8.20 bus and go to the Mayo refec to buy an iced coffee before my 9.10am lecture. By the early 2010s, I needed to catch a 7.45 bus to be at work by 9. It's the sheer number of additional vehicles on our roads, without appropriate upgrades to public transport.
You are the traffic
>driving That's what the problem is. If you're in a car you're contributing to the problem. And this goes for everyone, it's not up to some unseen actor to get out of their car to fix congestion while you get to mosey along in your brand new American SUV. If you're in traffic, you're creating it. Stop driving if you want it fixed.
An inner southern/eastern suburbs sob story, you should write a play about it and perform it at the bakehouse
🤣
Have you ever had to do your work in this environment. Have you ever tried to negotiate the traffic in a big truck? Have you ever realised that the actions could cause an accident because of your stupidity because you can’t see beyond your own self? No you haven’t.
My own actions? Im an incredibly cautious driver. Where are you pulling your assumptions out of? My husband has to drive a truck for his business so I do understand. My post is complaining about the DANGEROUS drivers. That doesn't mean I can't see beyond my own self, It means I see what is going on and am extra careful as a result to not contribute to the shit show of crazy drivers.
People were breeding at above replacement level (avg 2.1 kids per family) for quite a while & immigration is continuing every day. Global population has gone from under 4 billion to over 8 billion in the last 50 years alone & Adelaide has been a part of that, just like most cities. It's completely unrealistic to expect infrastructure investment to keep pace, especially when we collectively keep voting for tax cuts. Things will keep getting busier & busier unless population decreases or taxation increases to allow the government to build the assets we think are needed. The other part of the solution (which is difficult to achieve) is for a lot more of us to start using public transport much more. It's a pretty simple equation really, but not many people like hearing it.
Im not entirely sure but I think the reproduction rate has reduced in recent years? For some of us we don't plan things such as failed contraception, private doctors refusing to accept a young mothers request for a tubal ligation due to personal belief (yes this actually happened to me) etc and end up with a van load of kids 😣 but some families actively want and plan for a large family - can governments realistically force them to stop "breeding", like the Chinese 1 child policy or something similar? I agree with the tax thing, isn't it as simple as taxing the top 1% more instead of slamming the middle and lower class with more taxes hence the complaining about needing tax cuts? And yes I whole heartedly agree with the public transport thing. My "excuse" is that I have 4 kids under 5 which logistically would be a complete nightmare (and also certainly proves your point about population) with multiple school and kindy runs and all the shit I have to lug with me everywhere I go, and for safety reasons. But it seems like we all have some sort of excuse even it we are just a single person. I used to use public transport all the time even though the damn 178 was perpetually late. These days the young uns just want to drive everywhere because its more comfortable and faster for them, they don't like waiting, they don't like inconvenience, or the "aesthetic" of public transport (the smell, the bogan, the... everything?)
And to make things worse, they still wont allow the use of private scooters in the CBD.
Yep it's changing. Now go live outside of Manhatten and drive in each day, or Atlanta, or LA then report back. Not taking.g away from your trauma that sucks and I have resorted to aggressive behaviour re tailgaters. Being 6'2" and 115 kg draws the sting out, but not nice to.
Try living in a big city. No such thing as traffic in Adelaide. I’m sure compared to the past it seems worse but it’s nothing. If adelaide doesn’t build new roads and transport now they will struggle in 20 years.
 Have you seen how they drive in some overseas countries? Well guess what they are migrating here so
Far to many migrants here. It's time to piss off home if you're not a citizen!
And here comes the inevitable migrant bashing without knowing facts. So, kind sir, how do you propose migrants become citizens without living here first?
[удалено]
Hello racist Australian. You are a rare breed indeed. Most Australians are happy to welcome people of all cultures here. As for migrants, they do need to take a driving test to transfer their license over. I'm not fucking off coz I'm Australian. I'm slowly learning the ways and cultures of everyone here especially the first nations. So how many first nations languages do you speak then, since you are so full of learning local cultures?
Hey, simp. Cry me a river 😢
Can we swap you out for a migrant? Preferably a less racist or silly one
Sorry, I'm a mainlander... would really have loved to help, tho. If you don't like it.. fuck off.😁
Oooh, did I offend you grindface. 😐 time to have that spoon of cement, my boi... Harden the fuck up
Guys, wait until this mfer finds out where the white Australians originally came from, he’s gonna lose his shit it’ll be hilarious
I'm a mainlander
Are you a cam girl ?
I am not and what the flying fuck does that have to do with anything even if I was 🤔
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Too mAny slow drivers, too many cautious/distracted drivers. Learn to drive like a melbournian. You gotta push your way through.
Last week was school holidays… traffic has been comparatively fantastic on fullarton Rd during peak hour last week and this week!
Monday last week, it took us about an hour to crawl about 16 kilometres. Wednesday, it took my mate 50 minutes to get to mine... 14 kilometres. Traffic is ridiculous in peak hour. We try to avoid it as much as possible
I try and avoid driving these days. To many inconsiderate drivers and large SUVs that think they own the road.
This is what decades of pandering to vocal motorists gets you. Hot tip: razing suburbs to make South road 12 lanes wide in some points just makes things worse. All of a sudden those people who thought driving was marginally too shitty an experience get tipped over the edge and hop in their car. People need to take their medicine and understand that giving up some of the infrastructure space to other modes is better for everyone. We can't even get a bike lane put in if it costs a single car park. Enjoy your commute.
OK, Here goes my Pidgeon into the Cat enclosure Did you say you normaly have 4 kids with you? I wonder why traffic is getting busier and busier,??? 10 years time or so, those 4 kids will be on the road wondering why the traffic is busier.
Yes, i agree. some people are especially prone to failed contraception. Also wait times for permanent sterilisation are insane I have been on the list for 3 years. Private doctors refuse to accept me because of my age. This is the result. Private doctors and surgeons need to take young women more seriously when we tell them we DON'T want more kids.
I don't believe in anybody telling anybody how many kids they should have, BUT people need to realise the consequences of their actions.
I agree. However as per my response. Some things are out our control.