Commuters in Australias most congested city spend 92 hours a year stuck in traffic, idly burning more than $200 of fuel, new research has found.
Going on a time-to-travel 10km yardstick, Novated Lease found Melbourne to be the most gridlocked city in the country, with Melburnians typically needing 21 minutes to drive 10km.
Drivers in the Victorian capital spent 92 hours a year in congestion, emitting 247kg of pollution while in the log jams.
The leasing company calculated the congestion costs Melbourne drivers $205 of petrol annually.
Sydney drivers spend 10 per cent less time in congestion per year but creep along slightly slower than Melburnians at 22 minutes per 10km.
Sydneysiders cars emit an average of 211kg of pollution, which would need 85 trees to counteract.
The most congested cities in descending order are Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart, Newcastle, the Gold Coast, Canberra and Wollongong.
The worst day for traffic in 2023 was March 8 when congestion times dragged out about 15 per cent.
Commuters in Australias most congested city spend 92 hours a year stuck in traffic, idly burning more than $200 of fuel, new research has found (stock image)
Melbourne (pictured) is the most gridlocked city in the country with 10km taking 21 minutes
The entire Sydney train network radio system failed and all trains were halted.
Adelaide drivers spend the equivalent of three whole days in traffic each year, and the 4pm to 5pm rush hour slows traffic down to 25 minutes per 10km.
The Victorian government has been forced to cut infrastructure spending as the bean counters balance projects against a $156billion state debt.
The government is reducing infrastructure spending from $24bn down to $15.6bn over the course of the next four years.
Key road projects under construction include a tunnel to provide an alternative to the West Gate Bridge.
But costs on a suite of 28 joint state and commonwealth projects have blown out by $12bn since December alone.
These include costs for three regional rail upgrades, suburban roads projects, the states most expensive toll road the North East Link and major highway interchanges.
The Novated Lease study used data from navigation company TomTom, and only took in those areas listed in the top 10 because of data availability.