The Melbourne Urbanist Blog

[#Metro]

A nice blog that I read from time to time.

http://melbourneurbanist.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/what-is-the-cost-of-commuting-by-car-compared-to-public-transport/

Although public transport costs considerably less in terms of cash outlays, the exhibit also shows commuting by public transport takes much more time than commuting by car, no matter where a household lives. The extra time is enormous for households living in the middle and outer suburbs i.e. for more than 90% of Melburnians.

For example, the cumulative weekly commuting time for the workers in an outer suburban household who use public transport is 1,326 minutes, whereas workers in neighbouring households who drive only expend 561 minutes per week. Even members of inner city households who use public transport spend more time commuting than members of outer suburban households who drive.

BITRE value the opportunity cost of time spent commuting at average weekly earnings (just over $800 p.w.). With this assumption it's evident time is far and away the main cost of commuting by public transport, even for households who live in the inner city. That's a key reason why many argue the focus of public transport spending should be on improving services, not lowering or abolishing fares.

At present, public transport users can only comfortably get to a limited number of Melbourne's jobs, mostly in the CBD and near-CBD. Existing public transport use reflects that limitation – most trips are CBD commutes. However given that a little over 80% of jobs are outside Melbourne City Council's boundary and relatively dispersed – indeed, 50% are more 13 km from the CBD – most jobs are more easily accessed by car-based commuters.

This is where cycling and network integration with cross-town buses comes into play.