Melburnians are avoiding public transport at even greater levels than last year as workers across the city seek new ways to ensure they can commute by car, including renting permanent parking spaces and using short-term hire vehicles.
As Victoria records tens of thousands of COVID-19 cases each day, patronage on trains, buses and trams is about one-third of pre-pandemic levels, despite the state government putting on 450 additional train services a week.
Bradley Dosser has rented a permanent parking spot for use when he commutes from his home in Caroline Springs to the CBD.Credit: Justin McManus
This time last year, when coronavirus case numbers were in single digits, public transport use was about 45 per cent of pre-pandemic figures.
In a sign Melbourne residents intend to use their own vehicles over shared public transport for months to come, services that help drivers lease parking spaces from residential and commercial owners are reporting a boom in demand.
Parkhound, a platform that labels itself an Uber-style service for parking, reported requests this week were up 205 per cent on the same time last year, as workers returned from holidays. Demand in Sydney increased 119 per cent.
Founder Mike Rosenbaum said drivers renting parking spaces, for example in driveways, garages and commercial carparks, spiked in line with Omicron cases from early December – bucking the usual festive season trend.
“Typically people book at the last minute, a week before they start work in January or even the day of. Over the week of Christmas, which is normally our quiet period, there was a huge influx of bookings for January, February and beyond ...” said Mr Rosenbaum, who launched Parkhound seven years ago.
“I think people want that security of driving their own car because they’re nervous about Omicron.”
Compared to the fall in public transport use, road traffic has remained high. On Monday traffic was 81 per cent of pre-pandemic baseline levels, with 8.1 million trips, according to state government data.
Road patronage on the same date last year was 88 per cent of pre-pandemic numbers.
Parkhound founder Mike Rosenbaum said demand for parking spaces boomed in the week of Christmas.
Mr Rosenbaum said the US, where Parkhound also operates, had experienced peaks and troughs of the pandemic before Australia, therefore providing a useful indicator of what could happen here.
“Traffic has increased to be heavier than before the pandemic in many American cities,” he said. “Locally, new car sales are growing, it’s very difficult to get a second-hand car at the moment, so we believe in the medium term this trend towards driving will continue.”
Lawyer Bradley Dosser described traffic on his 45 to 60-minute peak-hour commute to the CBD from his home in Caroline Springs, in Melbourne’s west, as “pretty ugly”.
“It’s more an incentive to find different routes than catch public transport, though. I drive because it’s on demand, I’ve got a four-year-old daughter and I don’t want her to get sick,” he said.
“I know we all want to do our bit for the environment, but family has to come first in these situations.”
The state government has advised Victorians to work from home where possible, but Mr Dosser, 46, is normally needed at his construction firm’s office once a week.
He pays $290 a month for a privately leased spot in a carpark on the western fringe of the CBD.
“Financially, a monthly ticket on the train is costing me about the same,” he said. “The upside is I don’t have to use public transport and potentially catch COVID.”
Public transport use has increased slightly this week compared with last, reaching 36 per cent of pre-pandemic levels on Monday versus 32 per cent last Monday.
Rita Kreileman views herself as a public transport fanatic and an environmentalist. However, the Omicron variant has led to the at-home aged and disability care worker hiring cars from short-term rental services, such as Car Next Door, to drive between jobs and run errands.
At-home care worker Rita Kreileman previously sold her car but has been using short-term hires due to COVID-19.
“I actually sold my car when I moved to Melbourne because it was so stressful on the roads,” said Ms Kreileman, who lives in Kew.
“I have an electric bike, but when I need to drive, hiring a car at least feels like a more responsible and environmentally friendly option.”
A Victorian government spokeswoman said Public Transport Victoria’s Ridespace app offers real-time information on how busy trains and platforms are around Melbourne and additional cleaning is being carried out.
“Although there has been a steady rise in passengers on the public transport network in recent weeks, patronage remains low, with Victorians encouraged to work from home during the summer period if they can,” she said.
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