Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to
work?
Highlights
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Between the 1996 and 2006 Censuses, an increasing proportion of people used
a car to travel to work.
Approximately 25 percent of commuters to Wellington’s four cities used public
transport, compared with 4 percent of commuters to the Auckland metropolis
from surrounding districts.
1 percent of people travelling to work in Christchurch from surrounding districts
used public transport.
Over half of people who walked or jogged to work lived within 2km of their
workplace.
People who travelled to work by company car tended to live further from their
workplace, with 19 percent living more than 20km away.
Three-quarters of people who cycled to work were men.
Women with children were more likely to commute by car than use public
transport, compared with women without children.
Introduction
The census asked all employed individuals to state their mode of travel on the longest
distance to their workplace on census day. For example, if they took the train to work,
then walked from the train station to their workplace, the main means of travel to work
would be by train. This information is used by councils and researchers as an indicator
of New Zealand’s travel patterns and the changes that occur to these over time. This
census question is becoming more relevant as environmental consequences of motor
vehicle use became increasingly important over the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
The Ministry of Transport and Transit New Zealand also conduct transport surveys,
which give further insight into the travel patterns of the nation.
Transport woes, air pollution, and congestion have often featured in headlines in recent
years, particularly in Auckland. The improvement of Auckland’s traffic situation became
a national priority given the importance of its cities to the national economy. Congestion
has also become an increasing concern for Wellington, even though it has a much
higher public transport patronage than Auckland. In 2008, The Dominion Post claimed
that the “regional issue that most concerns Wellingtonians is transport, be it public
transport, the capacity of the roading network or private cars” with over 4,600
submissions on the proposals to ease traffic congestion on the Ngauranga-to-airport
corridor.” Although Christchurch traffic has not received as much media attention
nationally, its traffic concerns are also the subject of debate. Transit New Zealand’s
Travel Time Survey (March 2007) monitors travel times and congestion in Auckland,
Wellington, Tauranga, and Christchurch; the survey noted a small rise in congestion in
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Christchurch between March 2005 and March 2006. Rising traffic congestion has
several causes, such as increased population and more motor vehicles, but commuting
(travel to work) remains a major contributor. In particular, commuting places pressure
on roads at peak times (in the morning and late afternoon).
Research on travel times conducted by the Ministry of Transport and Transit New
Zealand show that there is considerable difference in the flow of traffic in the main cities
by time of day. Travellers in the cities of Auckland faced the greatest variability between
peak and off-peak times (Transit New Zealand Travel Time Indicator report – March
2006). This report examines changes in mode of transport, variations in transport use in
the main cities, and variations in distance travelled by mode of transport.
Main means of travel to work
Data from the Ministry of Transport’s Household Travel Survey shows the huge effect of
travel to work on the nation’s roads. The Household Travel Survey found that: “Travel to
work is the largest travel category and also the most dependent on driving. Seventyseven percent of time spent travelling to work is driver travel, and nearly 90% of known
distance travelled to work (that is, excluding walking, train, plane or ferry travel) is as a
driver.” Figures from the New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings show
similar patterns, although the results are not identical because of the different time
periods and methodology used.
Nationally, motor cars were the main means of travel to work, with approximately twothirds of the employed population listing this as their main means of travel to work on
census day 2006. Between 1996 and 2006, the use of cars increased slightly, while
walking, jogging, and cycling declined. The Household Travel Survey found similar
results for all travel as well as travel to work. Public transport usage is low compared
with countries such as the United Kingdom, where approximately 15 percent of
commuters in 2006 used public transport (Office of National Statistics Labour Force
Survey, fourth quarter, 2006).
Figure 1
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Cyclists, walkers, and joggers
Three-quarters of people who cycled to work on census day in 2006 were men. A fifth of
the total cyclists were professionals (the largest group), followed by service and sales
workers. People working as agricultural and fishery workers, who often travelled the
greatest distances, were the least likely to cycle to work (3 percent). People aged
between 30 and 49 years had the highest proportion of cyclists on Census Day 2006
Figure 2
Walking and jogging were more evenly split between the sexes, although more women
walked (54 percent compared with 46 percent of men). Service and sales workers were
the most likely to walk, possibly because the majority lived fairly close to their
workplace. Half of all people who walked to work were aged less than 35 years.
Taking a company car to work
Of those who travelled to work by company car on census day 2006, 86 percent were
male and 14 percent were female. Almost one-third (30 percent) of those who took a
company car to work were legislators, managers, and administrators. Nearly half of
those who took a company car to work were aged 35 to 49 years.
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Figure 3
Public transport
Women were more likely than men to use public transport (58 percent travelled to work
on a bus or train on census day 2006). However, women who had children were less
likely to use public transport to get to work (3 percent of women with children compared
with 9 percent of women with no children used public transport); of these, the majority
drove to work (57 percent). Women with children were also less likely to cycle or walk
than women without children.
Professionals (21 percent) or clerks (20 percent) were the highest users of public
transport, perhaps because workplaces for these occupations were mostly located in
the largest cities where public transport is more readily available. Higher proportions of
younger people used public transport to get to work on census day 2006; over half of
those who used public transport were under 35 years.
Figure 4
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Mode of transport in main cities
Outside the major cities, census data showed that majority of commuters depended on
motor vehicles as their main means of travel to work, largely because of the lack of
availability of public transport. The Ministry of Transport’s Household Travel Survey
found similar results: people living in rural areas and small towns (population less than
10,000) drove to work, on average, one-and-a-half times more in a year than urban
dwellers living in larger towns and cities.
Figure 5
Commuters Using Public Transport in Local Commuting Areas
2006 Census
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Outside the largest cities (Auckland metropolis, Wellington’s four cities, Hamilton,
Christchurch, and Dunedin) few people used public transport to work (1 percent). In the
North Island however, rural or small town commuters who travelled to a major city had
higher rates of public transport use, especially those travelling to Wellington city.
Figure 6
People who lived in the North Island but commuted to the cities of Auckland were most
likely to travel by motor vehicle (81 percent drove, or were a passenger in a private or
company car, truck, van, or company bus, compared with 70 percent who lived and
worked in the city). A further 4 percent took public transport, compared with 7 percent of
those who lived and worked in the city. In contrast, commuters from outside one of the
four Wellington cities were much more likely to use public transport than people who
lived and worked in one of these four cities (26 percent compared with 16 percent),
perhaps reflecting the availability of different public transport options, including buses
and trains. People who travelled to work in the four cities of Wellington had lower use of
motor cars, with only half taking a private car, truck, or van, compared with almost twothirds of people who worked in the Auckland metropolis.
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Figure 7
Employed Population Who Used Public Transport to Wellington Metropolis
2006 Census day
People who lived and worked in Wellington city were more likely to walk and jog to work
(1 in 9), or use public transport.
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Figure 8
Walking to Work in Wellington
2006 Census day
In contrast, commuters to Christchurch appeared to have similar patterns with
commuters to the Auckland metropolis, which may be reinforced by geography and
public transport provision. Most South Islanders who lived outside Christchurch but
worked there drove to work (84 percent, or were a passenger in a private or company
car, truck, van, or company bus), and very few took public transport (1 percent). In
contrast, 4 percent of people who worked and lived in Christchurch took public
transport, 6 percent went by bicycle, and 5 percent walked or jogged.
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Figure 9
Employed Population Who Cycled to Work in Christchurch
2006 Census day
Distance travelled by mode of transport
Nationally, there was a wide variation in distance travelled by mode of transport. Not
surprisingly, people who walked and jogged to work travelled the shortest distance, with
over half (54 percent) walking or jogging less than 2km, and 83 percent by less than
5km. In 2006, people using company cars, public transport or other means (such as
ferries and planes) travelled the furthest.
Figure 10
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Table 1
Employed Population Who Specified a Mode of Transport for Travel to Work on Census
Day 2006
Distance (km)
Mode of Transport
Bicycle
Public Transport
Company Car
Other
Private Car
Walking and jogging
Less than
1
1-2
2-5
6 - 10
11 - 20
21 - 50
51- 100
3
1
2
3
1
9
21
7
12
14
12
44
45
31
25
28
29
29
20
28
21
17
24
5
7
21
21
16
20
3
3
9
14
15
11
5
1
1
3
2
2
2
The distance travelled by most modes of transport increased between 1996 and 2006.
People who used private and company cars and public transport showed some of the
greatest increases in distance travelled. The only modes of transport that showed slight
declines in distance travelled were those that involved walking, jogging, and cycling.
Table 2
Mode
Private Car
Company Car
Public transport
Bicycle
Walking and
jogging
Other
Year
1996
2006
1996
2006
1996
2006
1996
2006
1996
2006
1996
2006
Distance travelled to workplace
Census Day 1996 and 2006 (km)
Lower
Upper
Median
quartile
Quartile
2.7
5.5
11.9
3.0
6.1
13.2
2.8
6.2
14.1
3.0
7.1
16.5
3.4
6.1
12.2
3.6
6.4
12.8
1.9
2.9
4.9
2.0
3.3
5.9
1.3
2.0
3.4
1.2
1.9
3.2
2.5
5.3
19.4
2.7
5.8
16.3
Figure 11
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Figure 12
Commuters’ increasing use of cars can have significant environmental consequences,
particularly in highly populated areas. In Auckland, vehicle traffic has a huge impact on
air pollution. Auckland Regional Council’s monitoring has identified concentrations of
pollutants (such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particles (PM10)) at urban monitoring
sites around Auckland that exceeded both the National Environmental Standards and
Ambient Air Quality Guidelines. The regional council calculated that approximately 80
percent of nitrogen dioxide in Auckland’s air comes from transport and that
concentrations increased in the decade to 2006 due to an increase in motor vehicles on
the roads. Researchers estimate that vehicle-related air pollution results in 253 deaths
per year in the Auckland region.
References and further reading
References
Chalmers, A (2008, April). Support for extra city road tunnels. The Dominion Post.
Bristow, R (2007, December). $245m revamp in road and rail plan. The Press.
Horner, M (2004). Spatial dimensions of urban commuting: A review of major issues
and their implications for future geographic research. The Professional Geographer,
56(2), p160.
Kjellstrom, T & Hill, S (2002). New Zealand evidence for health impacts of transport
(Background paper prepared for the Public Health Advisory Committee). Wellington:
Public Health Advisory Committee.
Mees, P & Dodson, J (2006). Backtracking Auckland: Bureaucratic rationality and public
preferences in transport planning (The Urban Research Program issues paper 5).
Brisbane: Griffith University.
Ministry of Transport (2008). Household Travel Survey. [as at July 08]
http://www.transport.govt.nz/assets/NewPDFs/NewFolder/Comparing-travelmodesv1.4.pdf
The difficult road to a liveable city (2008, May). The Dominion Post.
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Car, bus, bike or train: What were the main means of travel to work?
Transit New Zealand (2006, August).Transit Travel Time Indicators Report – March
2007.
Further reading
For information on Auckland’s air quality, go to the following webpages:
Auckland Regional Council: http://www.arc.govt.nz
Ministry for the Environment, Monitoring of CO, NO2, SO2, ozone, benzene and
benzo(a)pyrene in New Zealand: http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/air/air-qualitytech-report-42-oct03/html/index.html
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