Commuting to the Perth CBD has declined with the economic slump following
the end of the mining construction boom and an increased office vacancy
rate. Public transport, being typically CBD-centred, has been affected by
this. As the economy recovers, patronage is expected to recover.
Tony P
On Monday, 14 May 2018 06:23:53 UTC+10, Richard Youl wrote:
>
> The decline in Perth comes as a surprise.
>
> Perhaps PT use is not so much determined by the quality of its service but
> rather the ease (or lack of it in places like Sydney) of driving that are
> the main deciding factor.
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-residents-ditch-public-transport-and-get-back-in-their-cars-20180511-p4zetn.html
>
> Brisbane residents ditch public transport and get back in their cars
> Ruth McCosker https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/by/ruth-mccosker-gvrpqw13
> May 2018 — 10:31pm
> By Ruth McCoskerUpdatedfirst published 11 May 2018 — 4:48pm
>
> Brisbane residents are getting off public transport and back into cars,
> with 72 per cent of people going to work by car.
>
> Compared to other Australian capital cities, Brisbane was one of only two
> that had a decline in public transport usage to get to work between 2011
> and 2016, with Perth being the other.
> [image: Public transport usage by capital city. Key: LGA - local
> government area; UCL - urban centre/locality]
>
> Public transport usage by capital city. Key: LGA - local government area;
> UCL - urban centre/locality
> Photo: Brisbane City Council
>
> Brisbane City Council’s infrastructure committee reviewed Brisbane’s
> commuting habits and compared them with other capital cities following the
> recent release of the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data.
>
> A council spokesman said the downward trend with public transport usage
> could be due to service interruptions on rail lines or fare escalation
> between 2011 and 2016.
>
> “Sydney benefited from quite a fair bit of surgery to their rail network
> and also a lot of urban consolidation, and to a lesser extent Melbourne,”
> he said.
>
> According to ABS, in Brisbane, 20.2 per cent of people travelled to work
> by public transport in 2011 compared to 18.6 per cent in 2016.
>
> Public transport was mainly used along the Northgate, Ferny Grove and
> Oxley rail corridors as well as the south-east region, Waterworks Road and
> Chermside bus corridors.
>
> In 2016, 72.2 per cent of Brisbane residents used a car to get to work
> compared with 70.3 per cent in 2011.
> [image: Car commuting by capital city]
>
> Car commuting by capital city
> Photo: Brisbane City Council
>
> Compared with other capital cities, Brisbane was the second-least reliant
> on cars, with more car travel than Sydney but less than Melbourne, Perth
> and Adelaide.
>
> Both Melbourne and Sydney had a decline in car transport between the last
> two census data collections while Brisbane had an increase.
>
> Brisbane is still a car-dominated city for journeys to work, except for
> the inner city.
> [image: Brisbane is a car-dominated city for journeys to work, with the
> red area on the map denoting car travel.]
>
> Brisbane is a car-dominated city for journeys to work, with the red area
> on the map denoting car travel.
> Photo: Brisbane City Council
>
> For cycling, the data showed more Brisbane residents jumped on a bike to
> get to work than any other capital city with 2.1 per cent of residents
> travelling by bike in 2016 compared to 1.9 per cent in 2011.
>
> Sydney had an increase in bicycle use between 2011 and 2016, but still,
> less than 1 per cent of Sydney residents travel to work by bike.
>
> Melbourne also had an increase in cycling but is yet to reach the same
> percentage of commuters travelling by bike that Brisbane has.
> [image: A small per cent of people travel to work by bike in each of
> Australia's capital cities.]
>
> A small per cent of people travel to work by bike in each of Australia's
> capital cities.
> Photo: Brisbane City Council
>
> The council spokesman said there were certainly significant differences in
> travel behaviour trends between the capital cities.
>
> “As we expected, Brisbane local government area really does perform pretty
> well compared to other capital cities,” he said.
>
> “Brisbane is generally between the top two cities, Sydney and Melbourne,
> and performing better than Adelaide and Perth.”
>
> The next census will be conducted in August 2021.
>
> Ruth McCosker is an urban affairs reporter at the Brisbane Times, with a
> special interest in Brisbane City Council
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