The Swiss might set their watches to the trains, but for Illawarra commuters, congestion on the M1 between Dapto and Wollongong is more reliable.
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Nearly every morning and most afternoons, the M1 turns from major arterial into a slowly moving carpark.
It's a situation that Horsley resident Romeo Cecchele encounters with increasing frequency.
The time it takes to navigate the segment from the Kanahooka onramp to the West Wollongong turnoff can double compared to non-peak periods, and the morning rush begins early.
"On most Mondays we're travelling through Wollongong to get to southern Sydney and we hit the M1 at Kanahooka Road at very close to 7.10am and already, on some days, it's choking from that point," he said.
Mr Cecchele said the gridlock continues north until the Northcliffe Drive on-ramp, where the road expands to three lanes, however it returns once the road narrows to two lanes after the Five Islands Road on-ramp.
Average daily traffic volumes on M1 north of the Princes Highway at Figtree are around 91,000, reducing to 70,000 between Northcliffe Drive and Five Islands Road and 60,000 at Fowlers Road.
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said the agency was planning for improvements to the road as part of the construction of south-facing on and offramps in Dapto.
"Transport for NSW is investigating multiple locations for new ramps near Dapto to provide residents with improved southbound connectivity onto the motorway and, as part of this, we are looking for opportunities to improve efficiency on the motorway with infrastructure upgrades," the spokesperson said.
Mr Cecchele also noted that motorists have to interact with large trucks joining the highway at Masters Road, sometimes at dangerous speeds.
"The b-double trucks tend to be going quite fast and close to the 90 km/h that the traffic on the M1 is going at that juncture," he said.
"Even though trucks and cars coming from that ramp are supposed to wait for a gap before they squeeze in, it's the other way around because of the sheer size and the speed of the trucks coming down that steep ramp."
Mr Cecchele points the finger at the rapidly expanding suburbs of West Dapto and Albion Park as increasing the traffic load on the M1 at these sections.
Transport for NSW acknowledged the rapid population growth in the area with more to come was part of its planning for the future of the highway.
"Transport is also investigating options to improve transport in the Illawarra and to plan for anticipated changes to land use in the West Lake Illawarra Growth Area," the spokesperson said.
"This work considers a whole-of-transport approach that includes improvements to public transport (trains and buses) and active transport (walking and cycling).
"This will allow for informed decisions to be made on improvements to the whole transport system instead of looking at the motorway in isolation.
"Our multi-modal approach will help support livable and sustainable communities in the long term."
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