Congestion health risk: Fulker

Commuting times in Perth are getting longer and it’s not just hitting workers' hip pockets but also their health, according to a report released by the Committee for Perth.

The Perth-based policy group found that congestion in the city had significantly added to travel times – a factor now identified as a health issue in its own right.

“Perth is now the second most congested city in Australia, there’s a 31-minute delay for every one hour spent travelling during peak periods,” Committee for Perth CEO Marion Fulker said.

“Sixty per cent of Perth’s population growth is happening more than 20km from the CBD and our largest growing suburbs are more than 33 kilometres away from the CBD.

“This means that extended travel times and the flow on health issues are adversely affecting an ever-growing number of Perth people.

“If you live more than an hour away from work, you’re spending 19 days travelling to work each year, so it’s bound to have an adverse impact on your health.’’

The Committee for Perth said international studies showed extended travel times were linked to long-term serious health and social problems including premature death, obesity, heart disease, increased blood pressure, cancer, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, mental health issues, sleep apnoea and higher divorce rates.

In 2011, 28 per cent of Perth drivers felt that commuting was negatively affecting their health and 26 per cent believed that traffic had a negative impact on their performance at work or school.

“It’s well known that when people get stressed it increases their risk of suffering from anxiety and depression, heart disease, sleep problems and leads to days off work,” Ms Fulker said.

The report also revealed the results of studies which have found that as people’s commute times get longer their physical activity and fitness levels drop, while their blood pressure rises and weight increases.

“Obesity and physical activity have been found to be strongly linked, as have obesity and vehicle miles travelled. The percentage of people in Perth that are overweight or obese currently ranges from 61 per cent in Fremantle and Perth’s northern suburbs to 72 per cent in Perth’s southern coastal suburbs and the Peel region, so this is something we should be thinking about” Ms Fulker added.

“Almost 90 per cent of people with sedentary activity levels report sitting when they commute. There’s also a strong link between the time spent travelling and a reduction in how long people spent with their family or exercising, preparing nutritious food and sleeping.

 “There is also significant international evidence linking long commutes to a greater risk of depression as well as reduced life satisfaction and family and relationship problems.”

Ms Fulker said one research project found that, if one partner commuted for 45 minutes or more, each way, they were 40 per cent more likely to divorce. Other research concluded that a person’s sense of happiness, life satisfaction and sense of self-worth decreased with every successive minute of travel to work.

“But commuting doesn’t have to be bad for your health. Active commuting where you walk or ride to the bus or train station or walk or ride to work improves your health significantly. In some cases cyclists and pedestrians can achieve 80 per cent of their recommended daily physical activity levels by active commuting,’’ she said.

“The problem is that in car-oriented Perth most people can’t walk or cycle to work and not everyone has convenient access to public transport by walking or cycling.

“If we can make local and arterial roads more bike friendly, the return on this investment would be significant, with ten dollars returned for every dollar spent.” 

The report concluded that strategies to address Perth’s health-related commuting problems needed to focus on:

•             allowing more people to live closer to work by increasing the supply of diverse and affordable housing;

•             having high-quality public transport to major employment and service centres;

•             ensuring public transport keeps pace with population growth; and

•             encouraging employers to provide flexible work hours and opportunities to work from home.

“These actions will cost money in the short-term but they have the potential to deliver long-term health benefits for the entire community and also reduce the money government spends on its health budget,” Ms Fulker said.