The truck crash outside the Victoria Park Tunnel today highlights the problem of relying solely on one mode for transport for the city as well as how important it is to be able to have reliable trip times.
Police said the truck and trailer crashed into the back of a stationary vehicle before rolling just before 1pm. The drivers were taken to hospital with moderate injuries, police said.
Michael Mason, a passing motorist, said all four lanes of traffic were backed up about a kilometre.
“The truck has flipped on its side and it’s taking out the whole motorway.”
Now events like this, despite there being two within a week, are random and when they do occur can cause absolute chaos. Unlike peak hour it is very hard to work around them which means often you can have no choice but to get caught up in them so for those poor souls stuck in their cars, there is very little they could do. But it isn’t just a truck crashing, how many appointments were missed, or deliveries delayed as a result of this incident. How much would those caught up in the chaos given to have had an option that would have allowed them to avoid the risk of such an incident happening?
To me it shows why we need to continue to invest in public transport, especially the kind that has its own right of way that private vehicles can’t access and so is able to avoid congestion. Whether that be a fully dedicated busway across the harbour, including its approaches or a rail line under the harbour the important thing is we have alternatives in place. An independent and modern network would have high reliability and would give some certainty to travel times. I might not do much for those already stuck in the traffic but in the future how many would continue to choose to drive, especially for things like important appointments if there was a risk that the actions of someone else could delay you in such a way?