Despite many restrictions lifted, Perth commuters have stayed in their cars and are still avoiding public transport despite 10 months without community spread of COVID-19, figures reveal.

Figures from the Public Transport Authority (PTA) show that there were 7,294,925 boardings in January this year, almost 30 per cent below the January 2020 figure of over 10 million.

While figures for February are not yet available, the PTA told the ABC that patronage fell by 90 per cent during the five-day lockdown in the first week of February.

Boardings dropped sharply in March and April 2020 during the first lockdown and have gradually increased since, but have never reached pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, traffic on the roads has increased markedly in the past 12 months.

Mehdi Langroudi, director of congestion and movement management at Main Roads told Christine Layton on ABC Radio Perth that monitoring on freeways and arterial roads confirmed an increase.

The northbound Kwinana freeway had seen the greatest increase in traffic.

"That's probably because of the extra capacity we have on the freeway with the completion of a number of projects, including making it a smart freeway," he said.

The smart freeway project involved converting the emergency lane between Manning Road and the Narrows into an additional driving lane and a new system for on-ramp signals designed to enforce smoother merging onto the freeway.

Travel times decrease at peak hour

Mr Langroudi said travel times for commuters had shortened significantly.

"We are seeing massive benefits in terms of travel times in the morning peak," he said.

"From Roe highway to the Narrows Bridge we are seeing up to 10 minutes in terms of savings compared to before the smart freeway conditions.

While motorists may have noticed increased congestion and difficulty parking, Mr Langroudi said that was not necessarily a bad thing.

"More traffic on our roads is a good sign. It means we are open for business as a city and state as well," he said.