Don’t leave home if you don’t like commuting

Media release 12 January 2009

Don’t leave home if you don’t like commuting

New Zealanders heading to Australia for higher-paying jobs are likely to spend longer getting to them according to a trans-Tasman study of urban commuting habits.

The study by recruitment specialists Robert Half found that on average, urban Australians take much longer getting to work than do urban New Zealanders.

More than twice as many New Zealanders (11%) as Australians (5%) said they took less than 10 minutes to get to work. And more than three times as many Australians (22%) as New Zealanders (7%) said they took more than 50 minutes to get to work.

At the extreme end of commuting times, 2% of Australians but no New Zealanders take 90 minutes or longer to get to work.

But Australian commuters rely more heavily on public transport than do New Zealanders. While 81% of Kiwis regularly travel to work by car or motorcycle, only 50% of Australians do, with 45% of them regularly using trains (NZ 8%), 17% using buses (NZ 23%) and 11% using trams (NZ 0). And with 14% of Australians regularly walking or biking to work, they are more likely to combine travel with exercise than are Kiwis (9%).

Reflecting their preferred travel method, urban Kiwi commuters (66%) are more likely to listen to the radio than their Australian counterparts (43%), but only half as many Kiwis (19%) as Australians (40%) listen to music or a podcast on an MP3 player to pass the time.

Australian commuters are a better-read bunch than their New Zealand counterparts, with 43% of them regularly reading a newspaper or magazine on their way to and from work (NZ 12%) and another 30% regularly reading a book (NZ 11%).

Kiwi commuters are, however, a friendly bunch, with 11% of them regularly talking to fellow passengers during their daily commute, compared with just 7% of Australians who pass the time in conversation.

However many more Australians (18%) than Kiwis (12%) risk annoying fellow commuters by talking on their mobile phones during their daily commute.

The Robert Half study asked finance and accounting professionals last year about their commuting habits. The almost 300 New Zealand respondents came from Auckland, while the 385 Australian respondents came from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Robert Half senior manager Megan Alexander said the survey showed New Zealanders had more to consider than just salary when thinking about moving to Australia.

“In most of our surveys over the past two years, Kiwis have rated work-life balance, including shorter commuting times as a vital factor in their job choices. In our Auckland Salary Survey early in 2008, 44% of accounting and finance professionals said they would be willing to trade a lower salary for a more convenient work location – meaning a shorter commute.”

While there might be increased job opportunities available in Australia’s larger cities, Kiwis were likely to find they came with longer commuting times, and so they had to weigh up what was important before deciding to move, Ms Alexander said.

ENDS

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