[Dr Smith]

I feel the far greater frustration on our roads often starts somewhere else but is sometimmes vented more easily while driving.

Blueoval's post summed up perfectly a range of issues we are dealing with on a personal level and we sometimes take out the frustrations that manifest from any one or some of those issues he listed.

I've run our business sine 1987 and it's been around since the late 1950's. I spent the first 15 years on the road every day and actually loved it (in Melbourne) and yes we had traffic issues however it was usually as a result of an accident, major event or roadworks that lasted a few weeks at best. What has happened in the last few years literally gets my blood pressure up and I also can get very short with other drivers on the roads. The tram superstops, bike lanes, changed road flows, huge construction zones now running for upto 5 years have all contributed to choking traffic movement. Our business needs 1 hour more per day minimum to complete the same number of deliveries as what took place say 5 years ago. Then add all the lost loading zones to outdoor dining areas.

I understand why better access for passengers was needed at tram stops and we needed some bike lanes but when you see how other cities have applied them you can see the cheaper, just take over a car lane, method was employed in Melb. We have lost whole road lanes, placed the rhs of vehicles closer to moving traffic, made left hand passengers need to look out for bike riders before opening their doors and for those with wheels chairs you either exit on the traffic side where a fully opened door can actually stop a passing vehicle.

If you leave home already frustrated or even angry, it doesn't take much more while on the road to raise that blood pressure even higher.