The demand management opportunity in Perth, Western Australia

Perth in Western Australia is a very car dependent city. This is a legacy of cars having been readily available and affordable for most of the period during which the city was developed. Not surprisingly then, Perth currently experiences the adverse consequences of high levels of private car use, which by comparison with other cities are disproportionately high. There is concern that the situation could worsen, given that the population of the city is forecast to double within the next 30 years. It is therefore important to identify the road demand management opportunities for Perth. This paper examines the full range of road demand management techniques in terms of their potential application to Perth. The feasibility and time frames for implementation are considered from technical and social perspectives. It is the social aspects that are seen to present the greatest challenge. The principal road demand management opportunities relate to the basic land-use pattern of Perth and to private car use. Changes in land-use pattern will take some time to achieve and also there currently exists some controversy about the benefits it might provide for an urban region as a whole. By contrast, changed private car use has the potential to provide benefits in the short term and can be achieved through altered travel choice behaviour. It would allow the Perth road network to be better utilised and preserve all other demand management options until each can be adequately evaluated. The road demand management opportunities in Perth provide a suitable context within which future road infrastructure investment can be considered.