Roads swamped by vehicle invasion

SHOCK new figures reveal a massive 500,000 extra vehicles have hit Victoria’s roads in the past five years. And three and four-car families are fuelling the traffic crisis.

Car, truck, motor cycle and other vehicle registrations have soared by 11.5 per cent to 4.7 million since 2011 compared with a 10 per cent population rise to just over six million.

In Melbourne, the number of annual vehicle kilometres travelled on freeways and arterial roads has jumped from 27.6 billion to more than 29 billion over the five-year period. New census figures show that the region with the most cars per household is Melbourne’s outer southeast.

The City of Casey, which includes Cranbourne and Narre Warren, recorded almost 8000 dwellings boasting at least four vehicles.

Casey also had 14,000 three-car homes and more than 40,000 with two vehicles. Other areas with lots of four-plus vehicle households include Yarra Ranges (5601), Hume (5025), Greater Geelong (4873) and Whittlesea (4580).

Melbourne inner suburbs flush with tens of thousands of apartments and good public transport links had the lowest car ownership levels.

The City of Melbourne had 28,140 dwellings recording no vehicles, and 21,703 households with just one car.

Across Victoria, 8 per cent of dwellings had no vehicles; a third had one vehicle; 37 per cent had two; and 18 per cent had at least three.