easier. Whatever the root cause of traffic congestion may be, it doesn't seem that a shortage of roads really has much to do with it. Transport planners have had many decades to study the causes of congestion, and what they have to tell us is rather different to what we're used to hearing from those with a vested interest in more roads. Two points sum up the available evidence: A future based primarily on cars is a future based on traffic congestion. Congestion doesn't depend on the quality of the roads, so much as on the quality of alternatives to car travel. In no city on Earth has the attempt to 'solve' traffic congestion with more roads resulted in anything but more traffic congestion. But in Melbourne, this hasn't stopped our State Government wanting to spend billions of dollars reviving old road plans from the 1960s. Lasting solutions to congestion will require fixing up the alternatives to roads. So while lots of people will drive cars in the future, many more won't have to drive cars. The East-West Tunnel is promoted as a freight route for trucks to access the Port of Melbourne. So why does the official plan depict cars going to and from the city? Climate Change and Transport The obsession with new roads flies in the face of our biggest contemporary challenge. Transport is responsible for around one-sixth of Australia's emissions of greenhouse gases, or 80 million tonnes of CO2 annually. The vast majority come from cars