Victorian Chamber member Transurban conducted research for its fourth industry report, Urban Mobility Trends from COVID-19, in early 2022 during the Omicron wave and asked people how they expected the pandemic to change their everyday life.

The research found on average that 16 per cent more people across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane intend to use private vehicles every day post-pandemic.

“Since our first survey in July 2020, we have consistently found an increasing preference for private vehicle travel over public transport,” the report notes.

Meanwhile, 22 per cent fewer people in those surveyed cities expect to use public transport daily post-pandemic, compared to pre-pandemic.

Further, 44 per cent of respondents said they felt unsafe using public transport.

“It’s possible that the uptake of flexible work practices throughout the pandemic, coupled with ongoing concerns regarding personal health and safety in public places are contributing factors,” the report explains.

While daily public transport use looks likely to decline, the number of people who intend to use it a few times a week post-pandemic has increased in the Australian cities surveyed.

Transport ‘disconnect’

Interestingly, while climate change is high on the list of priorities and has been in previous surveys, most respondents aren’t particularly conscious of the greenhouse gases emitted from their chosen mode of transport.

Nearly 70 per cent of respondents in Australia said greenhouse gas emissions produced by different modes of transport did not factor into their transport choices or only do so occasionally and when promoted.

“This suggests a disconnect between people’s general concern for climate change, and their awareness and understanding about how they can act to reduce their own carbon footprint,” the report says.

“When it comes to car travel, the uptake of electric vehicles powered by clean energy will play a key role in decarbonising transport.

“However, the availability and accessibility of electric vehicles in … Australia is still fairly limited.”

Traffic congestion, which was rated as concerning by 93 per cent of respondents in a July 2021 survey, was considered a lower priority for action in the January 2022 survey.

“This could be attributed to the large proportion of the community working from home and avoiding outings during the latest Omicron wave, which temporarily eased pressure on our transport networks.”

Elsewhere, despite the Omicron wave disrupting holiday plans towards the end of December 2021 and into January 2022, 67 per cent of respondents still expect to travel domestically and/or internationally in 2022, which is up seven percentage points compared to January 2021.

The full analysis is available here.