Revealed: The capital city with the slowest traffic

If it feels like you’re spending more time stuck in traffic than a few years ago, new figures released on Monday back that up.

Melbourne scored the unhappy title of being Australia’s slowest capital city, with suggestions it’s not likely to improve for at least a decade.

A fatal crash at Laverton caused extreme delays on Monday morning while traffic crawled to a standstill in the western suburbs.

Incidents like this, combined with extraordinary population growth across the city, have made Melbourne the country’s most congested capital.

The Australian Automobile Association has found that trips around town now take longer.

From Dandenong to the city, there’s an extra 3.7 minutes compared to five years ago.

The drive from the airport to the city now takes an extra 3.5 minutes.

“[People are] taking longer to get to work and they’re travelling at much slower speeds because of all the roadworks coming from level crossing removals, and freeway upgrade projects,” RACV’s Dave Jones said.

A month out from a state election, the major parties are talking major road projects.

“It would have been good if many of these projects had been done decades ago,” Premier Daniel Andrews admitted.

“I can’t change that, all I can do is get on and get things done.”

“Congestion is out of control in Melbourne,” Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said.

“It’s why paying a billion dollars to not build the East West Link is the dumbest move any government could have done.”

The increase in congestion means also means Melburnians are often driving below the posted speed limit.

Melbourne’s average traffic speed of 65km/hr has dropped in the past five years to less than 60 km/hr.

It’s the biggest fall across the country, with most of the slowdown happening in just two years.

With the Westgate tunnel still four years away and the Metro tunnel seven years away, learning to wait has become a skill.

“I think we’ve got perhaps a decade, if not more, of major disruptions happening somewhere in the city,” RACV’s Dave Jones said.