Australians paying record amount for transport in 2021

One household cost has skyrocketed in 2021 with Australians now paying record amounts for this basic necessity. See which cities pay the most.

A large number of Australians are paying more than $460 a week just to get around.

New research from the Australia Automobile Association (AAA) shows that transport costs are making a big dent in household budgets, as Aussies are on average paying $44 more a week now than they were at the start of the year.

Sydneysiders are hit with a large number of toll roads. Picture: Toby Zerna

The head of the AAA, Michael Bradley, says the costs have jumped sharply since the start of 2021 and that more needs to be done to help ease the pressure on households.

“This sharp rise in transport costs needs to be monitored by governments, which need to avoid policies and decisions that impact cost of living,” says Mr Bradley.

“Transport affordability needs to remain a priority for the government, as Australia has not only just recorded the largest jump in transport costs since the affordability index commenced, but households are now paying the highest proportion of their income toward those costs.”

Sydney is the most expensive capital city for transport costs with residents paying $461.57 a week or more than $24,000 a year.

Filling up at the right time in the price cycle is important.

This includes costs such as car loan repayments, tolls, fuel, public transport, insurance, registration, servicing and roadside assistance.

The next most expensive city for transport is Melbourne at $434. This is followed by Brisbane ($428), Perth ($377), Canberra ($368), Adelaide ($355), Darwin ($342) and Hobart is the cheapest at $335. The national average is $354 a week.

It isn’t all good news for drivers in Hobart. While the weekly costs are the smallest out of any capital city, they represent the largest proportion of household income out of any capital city at 17.6 per cent.

Car servicing and maintenance can have a big impact on house hold budgets.

Brisbane residents were the next worst off, followed by Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin and Canberra locals handed over the smallest proportion of their pay on transport.

Unexpected price rises of petrol can have a big impact on household budgets.

To show just how fragile our petrol price market can be – a week ago Australians were hit hard by the knock-on affects of the cyber attack on a major US pipeline operator. This caused prices in several major cities to skyrocket with regular unleaded petrol in Sydney costing $152.50 during the past week.

Originally published as Australians paying record amount for transport in 2021