Off to Work: Commuting in Australia

By Michael Flood and Claire Barbato

Over nine million Australians travel to work each week, commuting by car, bus, train, tram, bicycle, ferry or foot.

These days, more than ever before, employees are commuting for longer, in traffic that is more congested, to reach workplaces that are further away. Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, Michael Flood and Claire Barbato explore patterns of commuting among adult Australians in paid work.

Stuck in traffic

Commuting has negative impacts on at least three dimensions of Australian life:

1. people's psychological, emotional, and physiological wellbeing;

2. their relationships and interactions with their families, neighbourhoods,

communities, and workplaces, and

3. the physical and social environment.

These impacts are at their worst when commuting journeys are lengthy, unpredictable or congested.

Lengthy and unpredictable commuting journeys take a toll on individuals both physically and emotionally. Employees whose journeys to and from work are longer show greater levels of bodily stress and perceived stress. Commuting strain is associated with feelings of nervousness and tension, physical pain and stiffness, irritability and fatigue, and poorer performance and satisfaction at work. Traffic congestion and crowding intensify all these effects.

The Australia Institute. April 2005