Melbourne traffic: City still car-dependent, with 1.5m people on roads every day
NOTHING gets Melburnians worked up like being stuck in traffic. This worrying statistic explains why your daily commute is unlikely to get better any time soon.
VIC News
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MELBOURNE is still a car-dependent city with three in four commuters travelling by private vehicle. That’s about 1.5 million people on the roads every day.
Census data reveals just 19.6 per cent travel by public transport, while only 5.5 per cent cycle or walk.
Melbourne commuters travel an average of 15km to get to work, an analysis of the 2016 census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals.
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RACV spokesman Dave Jones said Melbourne’s rapid growth means more people are on our roads.
“The transport challenges of population growth are reflected in the ABS figures,’’ he said.
“Our city spread means that for some commuters the car is their main option.
“Governments need to keep investing in roads, public transport and bikes to give commuters choices in how they travel.”
The analysis of commutes from all suburbs. including the booming outer west and outer southeast, found that on average workers in northern and western satellite communities travelled the farthest.
Gisborne, Bacchus Marsh, Melton and Romsey residents averaged daily one-way journeys of more than 30km.
Not surprisingly, central Melbourne residents had the shortest commute, travelling an average 5.13km to their place of work.
The data found that the more you earn, the further you travel to your workplace.
Well-heeled Melburnians earning between $104,000 and $156,000 a year travel an average 18km to work. Many would live in larger properties on the city boundary.
At the other end, those with an annual income of between $7800 and $20,799 travel just over 11km on average.
The ABS data showed that, nationally, men travelled an average of 17.7km each way and women 14.2km.
ABS census dissemination director Phillip Wise said that nationally most occupations averaged journeys under 17km, but miners travelled farthest.
“Technicians and trade workers travelled an average of 18.2km to get to work, machinery operators travelled 21.1km, and the grand champions of long journeys to work were people in the mining industry, who averaged 40.3km,’’ he said. Hospitality workers travelled the shortest average journeys, at 11.4km.
The big capital cities had longer commuting distances, Mr Wise added.
“Residents in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane all averaged about 15km, while those living in the Australian Capital Territory had the shortest average commutes at 11.7km.”
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