We Drive How Far?!

A recent study by social research company McCrindle has revealed that nearly two in three Australians drive to work. The study found a 0.8 per cent increase in the number of car commuters compared with five years ago, amounting to 655,939 people daily. In addition, one in five train commuters also use a car for part of their journey, while one in ten bus passengers do the same.

Meanwhile, the average Australian car is driven 12,881 kilometres a year, meaning Australians in their combined 13 million vehicles drive a combined 167 billion kilometres annually – the equivalent of driving to Pluto and back 20 times a year. Interestingly, more than half of Australians said the reason they did not use public transport was that no service existed or, where it did, the times did not suit their needs. Australians, it seems, have no aversion to using public transport, rather we drive to work because of a lack of reliable public transport infrastructure.

Looking at what the states have allocated to infrastructure investment we find that Queensland tops the country in terms of what it spends per capita. New South Wales comes in second and Western Australia rounds out the top three. Per capita, Queensland residents receive a state allocation of $3,800, while $3,342 is allocated for each New South Wales resident and $2,884 per Western Australian resident. An analysis of the 2012-13 budgets indicates an identical makeup of top funding recipients.

Almost 40 per cent of the infrastructure investment in Queensland is allocated to public transport, 36 per cent in New South Wales and 35 per cent in Western Australia. Given the statistics released by McCrindle, one thing is clear: public transport infrastructure investment is only going to become more vital. At Blue Wealth, we help our clients make smart investment choices that take advantage of infrastructure investment and the stimulatory effect it has on property values.


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