shedu

Hello to you all,

I think I have just found us somewhere to live for the first year

What I would like to know now is what the traffic is like in Perth?? I will be travelling to Fremantle and back for work. Will I need to leave extra early like I do here. Currently a 6 mile journey can take an hour. Please tell me its not the same there!!!!

I have read all the posts about the speeding fines and traps so I have been warned.

Not arriving until March but will be on the lookout for a second hand car if anyone knows where the best places to go are then please let me know.

Look forward to your replies
Adele2

warwick road

traffic in perth??

most of the time you have got your own lane!

it does get busy in rush hour ("peak hour" over ere) but nothing like london

it will be a fair few years before they get a congestion charge in perth!!

im about 10 ks from freo and it usually takes 20mins

Simone

But where are you travelling from?
I assume not the CDB, so you are talking about Perth as a whole. And Fremantle is usually included in that.
So, northern suburbs, eastern suburbs, southern (South Perth, along the Canning Highway??

Well, overall it'll be better than London! I'm pretty sure of that!
But it still can be quite busy on some roads, so it all depends on where you're coming from....

whisky

Gets busy at rush hour, but busy Perth and Busy London are two different things. We don't live in the City, but have had to go there several times, and usually in rush hour traffic. Not bad at all. A doddle compared to the UK.

Whisky

shedu

Guess it would help to be a bit more precise!!!!

East Perth to Fremantle Hospital. I will be doing shift work so hopefully will miss the peak hour for most of the time.

Thanks for the replies.
Adele2

Simone

Well, I'm no expert, at all, but if you're not in rush hour you should be fine.

And I just realised if you are in rushhour(in the morning), the traffic would usually be travelling the other way (into the city).
It also depends on the route you'd take. The freeway, I'd think would be busy, but I'm not sure.
And Canning Highway I guess is busy in all hours, but not too busy. But that is the most logical route.
Oh, I don't know... It all depends on what you call busy anyway!!

Hmmm, maybe someone with more experience with this should answer!
I don't think I'm helping at all!! sorry.

shedu

Thanks for that - I get the opinion that whatever time you travel its no way near as bad as London which is reassuring. Has anyone had difficulties passing the test to get a WA driving licence. Am i right in thinking that with a UK licence I will only have to take the written test??

ABCDiamond

I compared London Traffic to Sydney traffic when i first got here, and Sydney is the busiest in Australia, and I considered Sydney VERY quiet in comparison. ( I think it may have changed a bit now, but then so will London!)

Brisbane is quiter than Sydney, and I have been told that Brisbane is busy compared to Perth.

Following that, it must mean that Perth is really quiet on the roads.

podgypossum

I used to own a taxi company in London. I have also driven in several cities in hte southern hemisphere. Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Adelaide. I can assure you that NONE of them even comes close to the traffic problems of London. Its yet another one of my plus points to leaving!!!

bondipom

I was amazed at how bad Aucklands traffic was for a piddly village. Somewhere the size of London bad traffic should be expected but not in the city of Hobbits.

I think the real problem in London is the declining state of public transport. The tube system is collapsing and the railways are in a state of disrepair and underinvestment.

podgypossum

I agree BP..Auckland has far too many problems for its size. That is due totally to lack of money being pumped into it and also not having anyone with enough sense to plan it better...still nowhere near as bad as London though. Sadly, NZ places far more importance on settling land claims than it does investing in its future!!

Jirrupin

Adele,

You really cannot compare comunting in London to Perth. I reckon the journey you are asking about would take approx 20mins in normal traffic it is approx 18-20k's (12miles). I don't travel much at rush hour but I guess I would add on another 10mins+ to that
time.

When I lived in Warrington it would take me the same time to travel the same distance up the M62 to Manchester, and the M62 is mostly like a slow moving car park at rush hour.

Given the amount of lanes on some roads there is still a lot of traffic in Perth, certainly more than I was expecting. I don't know where warwick road is driving, if your out in the country you may essentially be on your own for spells. But in the metro area my experience is many cars try to use as many changes of lanes that they can to get from A to B.

Yes traffic is usually moving unless there has been an accident. usually you do get through the traffc lights on the first go, but they have a longer delay on the lights here so you can be sat for what can seem like an age waiting for them to change.

shedu

Hello Everyone,

Many thanks for all your replies - it seems to me that London certainly gets the vote for the worst traffic!!!

Still thats why I want out so I'm not surprised.


The second part of my question seems to have been overlooked - where is the best place in Perth to buy a second hand car. Should I look for private ads or is a dealer a better option. I don't want anything too special just something that will get me from A to B and still start on frosty mornings ( oops forgot Perth does not get frost). You get my drift???!!!

Cheers
Adele2

karawara88

There are loads of car yards here, catering for all needs Albany Highway has loads of cheapo car lots. The quokka.com.au has private sales. depends what you want, theres cars on the road here that are collectors items in UK.

Dont forget to add stamp duty to price you pay as you get that bill after buying.

Also you may as well have I am a Pom stamped on your forehead because car dealers are the same scum bucket, lying, cheating filth that they were in the UK twenty years ago. !!! in my opinion they are lower than traffic wardens. So dont believe a word they tell you, dont pay the ticket price on the car, also they play this game here where you fill in the paperwork with price you want to pay, they take it to principle and come back to try and get more money from you. Just tell them to get stuffed and you will only pay what you are offering. If they dont accept walk away.

Also be aware that under certain price or over certain Ks there is no warranty on car! unlike UK which I think has to give 3 months.

Its a very trying experience buying from car yard.! and in my opinion if you are buying an older motor private is probably best, many of the Hyandai types have 175k and 5 year warranty.

If you are looking for private try the supermarket ad boards, anything with a service history is what you are aiming at!


As for driving in Perth, its a breeze apart from the bloody traffic lights, getting caught on red between South Perth and East Perth can add over ten minutes to a journey. But you soon get used to which roads to use to avoid traffic lights!!

dugongs

Drive in an Indonesian city and you will find London a breeze !