Traffic in Tasmania

Tasmania is a world-class place to live, work, study, do business and visit.

We are experiencing a very strong rate of growth. This growth gives us opportunities but also challenges, including increased pressure on our transport network.

We need to make sure our transport network can meet demand, to keep the lifestyle advantages that Tasmanians currently enjoy.

People need to be able to get to work and home again in a consistent time; businesses need to be able to safely and efficiently move their products around the state; public transport needs to be a reliable option and our visitors need to continue to have access to the world-class experiences that inspire them to return.

To address these challenges we need an integrated approach, including investing in infrastructure that better connects our workplaces, schools and communities. This approach is reflected in the Government’s Hobart Transport Vision.

We need to understand current travel patterns to plan for and manage future changes in traffic volumes and travel routes.

As part of our long term vision for managing the state’s traffic, we have been doing studies of the traffic passing through inner Hobart and Launceston. This will help us understand how the network is used now and help predict how network usage might change in future.

The ways we manage traffic in Hobart and Launceston will be different. We need a multi-faceted approach that takes into account the fact that the two cities have different geography, different road networks and different travel patterns. In Launceston, more people travel through the city, while in Hobart, people travel into the city.

We continue to work in partnership with local governments to address increased traffic across the state. This includes advanced traffic monitoring and management technologies to better manage traffic flow and communicate travel time information.

In the south of the state, the Tasmanian Government allocated $30.8 million in the 2018-19 Tasmanian Budget to the Greater Hobart Traffic Solution (2018-23), which will assist with the management of the growing peak-hour traffic in Hobart.

Work is already underway on a number of initiatives, including:

• We have worked with the City of Hobart to take ownership of Davey Street and Macquarie Street and to put in place a number of measures that will help improve traffic flow.
• Planning for the construction of a fifth lane on the Southern Outlet.
• Advanced traffic monitoring and management technologies to better manage traffic flow throughout the Hobart metropolitan area. This includes Bluetooth travel-time detectors, which are being installed at 87 sites to gather data that will determine the volume of traffic travelling through an area, the time it takes to get from one place to another and vehicle turning movements.

We will continue to provide infrastructure improvements to help traffic flow, such as the completed Tasman Ramps project, Brooker Highway intersections, Southern Outlet/Olinda Grove off-ramp and Hobart airport roundabout improvements.

We are also reviewing public transport services across the state.

We all play a role in easing traffic. If you use the road, whether it be in a car, on a motorbike, bike or by foot, then you have the ability to make a difference. Planning your journey provides the most immediate improvement and leaving even five minutes earlier than usual can help reduce traffic at peak times on our roads.

If you have the flexibility, think about whether you can ride share, catch a bus, ride a bike or walk instead of taking the car. Even small measures can help to reduce the number of cars on the road, and a small reductions in car numbers can make a big difference.