Casey residents joined frustrated commuters from around the country to share their #nightmarecommute on social media.
National Nightmare Commute Day on Thursday 4 April gives a voice – and a hashtag – to the millions of Australians living in fast-growing outer suburbs who are fed up with wasting hours getting to work or study every day.
City of Casey Mayor Cr Amanda Stapledon said getting to work, home and school on time is a far-off dream for most Casey residents. The reality is a nightmare commute, with some people spending the equivalent of up to 28 days a year stuck in traffic.
“Too many of us have to travel up to two hours each way just to get to work. On average, we are wasting up to a whole month every year sitting in traffic instead of spending time with our family and friends,” said the Mayor.
“We have a common-sense solution to nightmare commutes: we need federal election commitments to catch up with road infrastructure, improve our public transport and support local job creation.
“National Nightmare Commute Day is our chance to show politicians why we are fed up and need some action from them.
“Better infrastructure would cut the time lost by commuters in Casey, with congestion and lack of train access keeping people in cars for up to two hours a day and hampering business in the region. We’re calling for federal funds to extend the Southern Dandenong Bypass and Thompson’s Road, upgrade Kangan Drive/Clyde Road intersection, upgrade Glasscocks Road and extend Cranbourne Rail to Clyde.
Research conducted by the National Growth Areas Alliance, which convenes National Nightmare Commute Day, shows there is a $50 billion backlog in roads, rail and health facilities in fast-growing outer suburbs.
In the last five years, the fast-growing outer suburbs have accommodated 35 per cent of Australia’s population growth but only received 13 per cent of Federal government investment in infrastructure. With population growth at double the national rate, another 2.5 million people are expected to be living in Australia’s fast-growing outer suburbs by 2031.
In previous years, #nightmarecommute trended during the morning rush hour. On 4 April 2019, #nightmarecommute will again share the stories of the millions of people who live in the outer suburbs.
