Transport use and access
Being able to move easily within the city and our neighbourhoods helps connect us with people, work, places and services that enable us to live good lives. This indicator will measure how we travel, as well our satisfaction with access to types of transport, and access to places in our local area.
Ease of access to places
This measure shows how easy Canberrans find it to get to the places they need to. As our city keeps growing, it is important to understand the experiences of our community as they go about their daily lives.
In 2024, over two thirds of Canberrans (69.0%) found it easy to get where they needed to. This is down from 73.6% in 2023.
The University of Canberra 2024 Living Well in the ACT Region survey notes that those more likely to report sometimes/often/always having difficulty getting to the places they need to include:
- those with restrictive disability
- aged 18 to 29
- language other than English (LOTE)
- LGBTIQA+
- single parents
- carers
- renters
- those unemployed.
These groups are also more likely to have experienced financial stress.
Data source
Data for this indicator are sourced from the University of Canberra Living well in the ACT Region survey. Detailed survey data, survey user guide and published reports from the survey can be accessed at https://www.regionalwellbeing.org.au/living-well-in-the-act-region/.
Chart description
Line graph of percentage of respondents who reported it easy, sometimes difficult, or often/always difficult to access places in the ACT, between 2019 and 2024.
In 2024:
- 69.0% reported finding it easy to access places compared to 73.6% in 2023
- 23.2% reported it was sometimes difficult to access places compared to 22.0% in 2023
- 7.8% reported it was often/always difficult to access places compared to 4.4% in 2023.
Technical notes
The Living Well in the ACT Region survey, conducted by the University of Canberra, aims to measure, track and understand the wellbeing and resilience of adult residents living in the Australian Capital Territory region of Australia. It examines factors known to affect wellbeing and resilience at the individual, household, community and regional level.
When generating data for the ACT, statistical weighting is used to address differences between the sample of people who respond to the survey, and the characteristics of the ACT adult population.
Data are produced from this survey for different groups of people in the ACT. The ‘overall response’ category represents responses at the ACT population level. Where reliable estimates can be produced, data are also presented for Canberrans by: gender, age, cultural background, gender identity and sexuality, carer role and experience of disability. Not all differences over time or between groups are statistically significant: information on confidence intervals for the data presented here is available in data tables that can be accessed at https://www.regionalwellbeing.org.au/living-well-in-the-act-region/.
Care is needed when interpreting the differences in findings between groups as the descriptive statistics published here show where there are differences in wellbeing, but not what has caused those differences in wellbeing.
Further information about the survey can be found at Living Well in the ACT Region or by contacting regionalwellbeing@canberra.edu.au.
Mode of transport for travel
This measure shows how people typically travel in Canberra.
How we get to places in our city is directly linked to our ease of access to places and our satisfaction with the public transport options.
The University of Canberra’s 2024 Living well in the ACT Region survey indicates that private transport is still a popular choice for Canberrans, with 59.0% using their car daily, and 86.1% driving their cars more than once a week.
People more likely to use their car daily include:
- those aged 30-49
- people with children living at home.
Walking – either the whole way or part of the way – is also a popular choice for Canberrans, with over half choosing to travel on foot at least once a week.
People most likely to walk to places include people who live in a unit or an apartment.
Despite high satisfaction rates with our bike lanes, the survey suggests that only 10.0% of Canberrans use a bike daily or more than once a week.
This is a new measure on the dashboard, previously identified as being under development.
Data source
Data for this indicator are sourced from the University of Canberra Living well in the ACT Region survey. Detailed survey data, survey user guide and published reports from the survey can be accessed at https://www.regionalwellbeing.org.au/living-well-in-the-act-region/.
Chart description
Bar charts of the proportion of Canberrans and their frequency of use for ten different transport modes. In 2024, Canberrans’ daily use consisted of:
- 59.0% drove a car, motorbike or similar vehicle
- 7.0% used buses
- 2.8% used light rail
- 2.9% were driven by a family member
- 19.9% walked (ether the whole way or part of the way)
- 4.3% used bicycles (excluding e-bikes)
- 0.3% used taxi/rideshare services
- 0.9% used e-bikes
- 0.1% used e-scooters
- 0.2% used other means, for example e-skateboards.
Technical notes
The Living Well in the ACT Region survey, conducted by the University of Canberra, aims to measure, track and understand the wellbeing and resilience of adult residents living in the Australian Capital Territory region of Australia. It examines factors known to affect wellbeing and resilience at the individual, household, community and regional level.
When generating data for the ACT, statistical weighting is used to address differences between the sample of people who respond to the survey, and the characteristics of the ACT adult population.
Data are produced from this survey for different groups of people in the ACT. The ‘overall response’ category represents responses at the ACT population level. Where reliable estimates can be produced, data are also presented for Canberrans by: gender, age, cultural background, gender identity and sexuality, carer role and experience of disability. Not all differences over time or between groups are statistically significant: information on confidence intervals for the data presented here is available in data tables that can be accessed at https://www.regionalwellbeing.org.au/living-well-in-the-act-region/.
Care is needed when interpreting the differences in findings between groups as the descriptive statistics published here show where there are differences in wellbeing, but not what has caused those differences in wellbeing.
Further information about the survey can be found at Living Well in the ACT Region or by contacting regionalwellbeing@canberra.edu.au.
Satisfaction with transport choice
Public transport can enhance our wellbeing in many different ways. It can help us be more physically active during the day, ease the traffic congestion on our roads, as well as reduce overall carbon emissions.
This measure shows the proportion of Canberrans who are satisfied with buses and light rail services.
In 2024, just over half (53.4%) of Canberrans were satisfied with public buses, while two-thirds (66.7%) reported being satisfied with light rail.
People aged 18-29 and 30-49 were more likely to be dissatisfied with buses than older Canberrans, with 35.3% being dissatisfied in both age categories.
Men were slightly more likely to be dissatisfied with light rail than women (26.7% vs 20.2%).
This is a new measure on the dashboard, previously identified as being under development.
Data source
Data for this indicator are sourced from the University of Canberra Living well in the ACT Region survey. Detailed survey data, survey user guide and published reports from the survey can be accessed at https://www.regionalwellbeing.org.au/living-well-in-the-act-region/.
Chart description
Bar chart of proportion of Canberrans who are satisfied, dissatisfied or neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with buses and light rail.
In 2024:
- 53.4% were satisfied with buses, and 66.7% were satisfied with light rail
- 16.6% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with buses, and 10.1% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with light rail
- 30% were dissatisfied with buses, and 23.2% were dissatisfied with light rail.
Technical notes
The Living Well in the ACT Region survey, conducted by the University of Canberra, aims to measure, track and understand the wellbeing and resilience of adult residents living in the Australian Capital Territory region of Australia. It examines factors known to affect wellbeing and resilience at the individual, household, community and regional level.
When generating data for the ACT, statistical weighting is used to address differences between the sample of people who respond to the survey, and the characteristics of the ACT adult population.
Data are produced from this survey for different groups of people in the ACT. The ‘overall response’ category represents responses at the ACT population level. Where reliable estimates can be produced, data are also presented for Canberrans by: gender, age, cultural background, gender identity and sexuality, carer role and experience of disability. Not all differences over time or between groups are statistically significant: information on confidence intervals for the data presented here is available in data tables that can be accessed at https://www.regionalwellbeing.org.au/living-well-in-the-act-region/.
Care is needed when interpreting the differences in findings between groups as the descriptive statistics published here show where there are differences in wellbeing, but not what has caused those differences in wellbeing.
Further information about the survey can be found at Living Well in the ACT Region or by contacting regionalwellbeing@canberra.edu.au.
