- In short: Poor transport infrastructure in and around Geelong is impacting residents’ quality of life
- What’s next? A Geelong lobby group is recommending more bus services and trains to the area to cope with the growing population
Jacklyn Nasuti lives just a 15-minute drive from her Geelong job, but without a car the journey takes two hours.
The 19-year-old boards a bus to Geelong near her Clifton Springs home 16 kilometres away that only comes every hour. She waits 30 minutes for another bus to take her back in the direction she just came, around the Bellarine Peninsula and finally to work.
“One time that was only for a three-and-a-half-hour shift, so I spent more time getting there than I did working,” Ms Nasuti said.
Clifton Springs is located in a small pocket of the peninsula east of Geelong with a growing number of families.
A lack of public and active transport options means, without a car, residents rely on the infrequent bus network.
She’s contemplated riding her bike to work but is intimidated by the 100kph roads.
And an Uber can cost up to $50, she said.
The Bellarine Peninsula is one of many areas in outer Geelong and the Surf Coast that have shifted from a holiday destination to a growing family hub.
But public transport options have not kept pace.
New modelling by transport analysis consultancy Veitch Lister for Geelong Regional Alliance (known as G21), a lobby group for better infrastructure in the region, has projected that Geelong roads will be five times more congested by 2041.
The modelling took into account all new transport infrastructure projects planned for the region over the next 30 years.
For those on the outskirts, the outlook is grim.
A morning peak hour trip from Curlewis on the Bellarine Peninsula, to Geelong’s CBD, is estimated to increase from the current average travel time of 27 minutes to 60 minutes over the next 20 years.
“The report tells us that we need a viable public transport system that connects the region,” G21 chief executive Giulia Baggio said.
Otherwise, we’re going to be facing unmanageable traffic congestion on our roads by 2041.
“2041 is not very far away.
“We know that transport infrastructure takes a long time to build. It’s very expensive. And if you don’t build it, the outcomes for the city and region are really dire.”
One strategy proposed is to increase population density to combat urban sprawl.
“We’re going to need to build denser housing, to have more people living on transport corridors,” Ms Baggio said.
“That will help governments invest in rapid transit, connections between cities and towns.”
‘I spend five hours in the car’
Maxine Paine lives in St Leonards, about 30km east of Geelong and travels to the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton three times a week.
She’s one of many who moved to the peninsula during the pandemic to escape the Victorian capital.
She loves her home but commuting is “the worst”.
“It’s so bad. I spend five hours in the car,” Ms Paine said.
She wakes up at 4:30am and leaves the house no later than 5:10am to avoid peak hour traffic on the M1 freeway, arriving at work by 7:30am.
“If I want to get there at 9am it would be a three-hour drive,” she said.
And it’s getting worse in the evenings for Ms Paine because, “on some days, I get home at 6:30pm, sometimes later”.
“It’s become busier over the last few months. People are just getting that pressure to come back into the office.”
The other side of town does not fare much better.
Sally Bird lives in Murgheboluc west of Geelong in Golden Plains Shire. There are no bus routes near her house so every morning she drives her son George to school.
In light traffic, the run takes 20 minutes, but during the morning peak, it takes an hour.
Growing up instead of out could be key
Infrastructure Victoria’s research aligns with G21’s findings and the independent advisory body agrees the region’s key focuses for change should be transport and density.
“Enhancing public transport services, particularly through better bus services, is crucial to meet current dissatisfaction and increase usage, benefiting those with limited means,” Infrastructure Victoria chief executive Jonathan Spear said.
If nothing changes, the result will be “a much poorer quality of life … in an area that’s renowned for its livability”, he said.
“We’ll see longer journey times, more congestion, people being much more reliant on the use of private cars with all the costs that come with that and all the emissions that come with that.”
Mr Spear echoed the G21 recommendation to provide more housing in established areas of Geelong saying it presented a “very big opportunity”.
Research by Infrastructure Victoria found one in three people who live in Geelong’s growth areas would rather live in an established area that is more central in a medium-density home such as a townhouse or low-rise apartment.
“But currently, because of our planning settings, that’s not being delivered,” Mr Spear said.
“There’s a big opportunity to change planning policies to make it easier to deliver the housing that people want and if we do that, we’ll make much better use of our transport system too.”
Recommendations in the G21 report include:
- 10-minute public transport services in town centres
- Increased bus services to Geelong from the Bellarine, Bannockburn, Inverleigh and Winchelsea
- A new parking strategy for central Geelong
- New train stations in Bannockburn, Moorabool, Bell Post Hill, Gheringhap and Avalon Airport
- A new station at Avalon Airport on the Geelong-to-Melbourne line
- New regular rail service between Lara and Waurn Ponds, Bannockburn and Geelong using the disused Ballarat line