New research into Australian commuting has revealed that for many, getting to work is an expensive and time-consuming process.
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Sydney residents have the longest daily commute time per person, according to new research, with 62 minutes spent in transit.
Perth commuters had the shortest travel time, at 50 minutes.
Australian commuters (83 per cent) agree the cost of commuting to work has never been as expensive as it is now, with NSW and ACT topping the list of most expensive states to commute.
The Real Australian Commute Report 2022 that surveyed 5000 Australians revealed the average cost of commuting per day is now $20.
Brisbane-based worker Nick Hemmings commutes daily to the Gold Coast. He used to spend three to four hours daily commuting to and from work, costing him over $200 a week.
"I basically broke it down into week to week and with my car at the time.
"When I broke down fuel costs, pretty much the percentage of a service period that I was using each week of driving and the tolls, and even tire wear, was costing me around $220 to $230 a week, in total real world costs," he said.
Mr Hemmings now takes the train to work, resulting in weekly savings of around $100.
"I use the train almost every day now. And that's reduced significantly costs and there a lot of great benefits to that," Mr Hemmings said.
"You can start your day early, start afresh and hit the ground running, or you've got an opportunity where you can catch up on podcasts and watch a movie or read a book,"
"That's a bit more relaxing than sitting in hour and a half of traffic," he said.
The report found that commuters would prefer to work closer to home with more than half of Australians surveyed (68 per cent) reporting that commuting time and costs strongly influenced their choice of jobs.
More than half agreed that if work opportunities presented closer to home, they would change jobs.
University of Melbourne senior lecturer in transport planning, Dr John Stone, said suburban and regional Australians lacked public transport options that are affordable and convenient.
"I think people really understand that, particularly coming out of a pandemic, we need to make sure we're not leaving people in the suburbs behind," he said.
People recognise that giving everybody good public transport is an issue of equity and fairness and that's what people are saying in this survey.
- Dr John Stone
The Victorian Opposition recently pledged all-day public transport travel for $2 in a bid to tackle the cost of living crisis.
In the federal budget, Victorians were promised $2.2 billion for the Suburban Rail Loop and NSW residents were pledged $500 million for early work for high-speed rail.
Transport was responsible for 18 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, according to the Australian Government Climate Change Authority.
In Victoria, transport accounts for 25 per cent of emissions.
"It's really important to give people alternatives, get them into electric buses, get them into electric trains which are all powered by renewable energy," Dr Stone said.
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"If you are providing people the fast and frequent service that's possible in the suburbs if we re-organise our budgets, and you give them an electric vehicle, then you're doing a huge amount to tackle climate problems and fairness and equity problems."
The research also found that when it comes to government policy, three-quarters of Australian commuters agree that government should be doing more to accelerate the uptake of environmentally friendly cars.
The Victorian Greens party recently announced their election promise that under 21s could use public transport for free using a 'climate ticket'.
Climate tickets have been introduced in a number of areas across Europe and have resulted in reduced emissions, decreased car usage, fewer traffic jams and lower cost-of-living expenses at a time of high inflation.
The Greens' climate ticket could save a young person $1794 a year and an adult $699 a year.
Eighty five per cent of commuters also believe that the government could be doing more to ease the costs of their daily commute. Most agree there should be better roads for a safer daily commute and believe the government should invest in better public transport options.
In New Zealand, public transport fares have been halved to encourage people to reduce driving time.
