Wollongong traffic congestion? It's all in your imagination, according to one survey

Do you spend an hour or so a week stuck in traffic?

No, you don’t – at least according to a survey from Novated Lease Australia.

It rated Wollongong as Australia’s least congested city, and said residents spent an average of 25 hours a year stuck in traffic.

That’s less than half an hour a week, or about five minutes a day.

If you’ve ever sat on Mt Ousley while a crash is cleared or enjoyed the parking lot that emerges between the Berkeley and Kanahooka off-ramps every morning and evening, you might be surprised.

But if you read the fine print it starts to make a little more sense.

All of the data used was collected over the course of a single day from TomToms – and not all areas were covered.

Some pretty significant limitations, especially when you consider variables like the weather on that day, or whether TomTom users might have other characteristics in common, such as age or employment status.

The ‘data’ is coupled with a call to consider leasing an electric vehicle, to reduce the cost of petrol wasted while sitting in congestion.

This marketing trick is being used more and more frequently, and sometimes it can be fun.

For a city with a proud migrant heritage and food scene, like Wollongong, being rated in the top 10 for pizza culture is a chance to pat ourselves on the back for something we do well (pizza), share our favourite spots and have a bit of a laugh, regardless of how robust the methodology that contributed to that ranking is.

But when it comes to issues like traffic congestion this marketing ploy feels less fun-and-games and more like the kind of spin that can affect how we perceive public debate.

Wollongong City Council’s most recent transport strategy highlighted the need to invest in strategies to reduce traffic congestion as our city’s population continues to grow.

It’s a real problem being dealt with by cities the world over.

Whether we take the US route of building more and more highways with an increasing number of lanes, or try a more European model of investing in public transport and active transport infrastructure is a serious consideration that has implications for generations to come.

Being fed garbage surveys that claim traffic congestion isn’t a problem just confuses the issue and makes it more difficult for us as a community to have a meaningful conversation about what we need to do.

It also contributes to the swill of misinformation and disinformation we all have to navigate daily. Chucking in a few stats alongside the word “survey” or “study” adds an air of legitimacy to a claim that’s anything but.

It’s a low tactic that relies on the reader either not having the time or the education they need to verify the claims for themselves.

I can’t tell you how much time you spend stuck in traffic each year, and I can’t tell you if it’s more or less than the average punter in Hobart, Sydney or Adelaide.

I can tell you we’re more likely to find solutions to our traffic woes through infrastructure investment based on sound data than a novated lease for an EV.