Transport costs on the up

According to the Australian Automobile Association’s (AAA) most recent Transport Affordability Index, Australian households are paying 13.6 per cent of their household budgets on getting from place to place.

The AAA figures show that, in the final quarter of 2016, the average Australian household was paying $17,147 a year for land transport — up from $16,894 in the previous quarter.

The biggest payers are in NSW, where a typical Sydney household spends around $22,050 a year running the family car(s) and paying for public transport.

This figure — which includes expenditures such as tax, tollways, insurance, maintenance, finance and fuel costs — compares with $19,409 a year in Brisbane and $18,575 in Melbourne.

The figures show there was an increase in costs, compared with the previous quarter, in all states except Queensland, where costs dropped by $600 a year due to a new fare and zoning structure in the state.

Sydneysiders and Melbournites were not so favoured, with yearly costs increasing by $397 and $519 respectively over figures collected from the previous quarter.

Compared with the 13.6 per cent national average, Adelaide and Hobart respectively spent 13.5 per cent and 14.6 per cent of their household budgets on transport.

Significantly, the biggest portion of transport costs is attributable to expenditure on fuel.

Although the AAA points out that the lift in fuel prices for the last quarter of 2016 was amplified by the fact that it followed relatively low prices in the preceding period, the results show that “transport cost pressures continue to grow and should act as a reminder to all governments that policy must be designed and reviewed to minimise pressure on household budgets.”

The AAA is “calling for a renewed focus from all levels of government on reducing the cost of taxes and charges, which totalled almost $29 billion in 2014-15. The continued rise in transport costs serves as a reminder that families are already under significant pressure from transport costs.”

To put this into some sort of context, the most recent survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2009-10 indicated that transport expenditure is only exceeded by family budget money spent on food and alcohol. The AAA says that electricity and gas costs typically account for only around three per cent.