Two-Thirds Of All Commuters Still Choose To Drive To Work

ABS census results


Article heading image for Two-Thirds Of All Commuters Still Choose To Drive To Work

According to new research by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), driving remains the most popular way for commuters to get to work in Australia.

This second round of data from the 2016 census shows that on August 9 last year, 6.5 million people drove to work. 

Under 500,000 travelled in the passenger seat, meaning that most people made the trip alone.

While the train remains the preferred mode of public transport, the census data shows that under 500,000 opted for this form of travel.

Roughly 104,000 people used a combination of trains and buses.

“Australians are still very much primarily reliant on cars, with the Census revealing that car was the most common method of travel to work in all states, territories and capital cities,” Census Program Manager Bindi Kindermann said today.

“When we look at the capital cities individually, the data tells us some interesting stories.

“Unsurprisingly, residents of Sydney were significant users of public transport, with one in five single-method trips by either train, bus, tram or ferry.”

To highlight the disparity between driving and catching public transport, the data from the census demonstrates that two-thirds of Sydneysiders opt for the car when it comes to commuting.

That's a whopping 65.6 per cent of commuters, compared to the 21 per cent who used public transport.

In Melbourne, the numbers blew out even further, with 74.4 per cent of people driving to work.

23 October 2017




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