39.3% ▼ -1.3%
Higher than 97% of council (lga) areas.
- 2011: 39.9%
- 2016: 40.7%
- 2021: 39.3%
Share of occupied private dwellings with no registered motor vehicle.
Sydney · Council (LGA)
Transport & Vehicles in Sydney
How households get around — the vehicles they keep and the journey to work.
A massive shift in working habits has hit Sydney, where the proportion of people working from home jumped 48 points since 2011 to reach 52.3%. This trend has seen more than half the workforce now avoid a daily commute. It is a city where nearly 40% of homes have no car at all, a figure far above the national average.
Vehicles
Motor vehicles per home, and homes with no car.
Nearly 40% of homes in Sydney do not own a motor vehicle, which is far above the New South Wales figure of 9.2%. For those who do own a car, the most common setup is a single vehicle, found in 47.1% of households.
Motor vehicles per home
View on map →In Sydney, the largest group is 1 vehicle at 47%, followed by No vehicle (39%) and 2 vehicles (11%).
Getting to work
How people travel to work.
Working from home is the dominant trend here, with 52.3% of people doing so, far above the Australian figure of 21.0%. While 7.0% still use public transport to get to work, this is well above the state average despite a 19 point drop since 2011.
52.3% ▲ +1211.8%
Higher than 99% of council (lga) areas.
- 2011: 4.0%
- 2016: 4.1%
- 2021: 52.3%
Share of employed people aged 15+ who worked at home on census day.
7.0% ▼ -73.1%
Higher than 91% of council (lga) areas.
- 2011: 26.0%
- 2016: 29.9%
- 2021: 7.0%
Share of employed people who got to work by train, bus, ferry or tram/light rail as their only method of travel on census day.
Public transport access
Stops, services, routes and how far you can get by public transport.
Sydney has one of the largest networks with 220 routes and 632 stops. The number of weekly departures per 1,000 people is far above the New South Wales figure, with buses making up 85.4% of the available modes.
632
Higher than 86% of council (lga) areas.
Scheduled public-transport stops (bus, train, tram and ferry) located in the area, from the state GTFS feeds.
2.99
Lower than 53% of council (lga) areas.
Public-transport stops per 1,000 residents — a measure of how densely an area is served (GTFS stops; population from the 2021 Census).
3,396.1
Higher than 99% of council (lga) areas.
Scheduled weekly public-transport departures from stops in the area, per 1,000 residents — how often transit actually runs, not just whether a stop exists (GTFS schedules for a representative week; population from the 2021 Census).
220
Higher than 92% of council (lga) areas.
Distinct public-transport routes serving stops in the area (GTFS feeds).
Getting around
Walking distance to transport and driving time to the city.
Getting around is very efficient, with a typical walk to the nearest stop taking only 2 minutes, which is much lower than most areas. The drive time to the city is also among the lowest at just 5 minutes.
2
Lower than 86% of council (lga) areas.
Walking time, in minutes, from the centre of the area to the nearest public-transport stop, along the OpenStreetMap pedestrian network (Valhalla). Blank where no stop is within a reasonable walk.
5
Lower than 99% of council (lga) areas.
Free-flow driving time, in minutes, from the centre of the area to its state/territory capital city centre, along the OpenStreetMap road network (Valhalla). Excludes live traffic.
Sources
- Census of Population and Housing — Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 (CC BY 4.0).
- Public transport timetables (GTFS) — State & territory transport agencies, 2026 (CC BY 4.0 (WA: custom PTA licence)).
- Road & path network (OpenStreetMap, via Valhalla) — OpenStreetMap contributors, 2026 (ODbL 1.0).
More for Sydney
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Transport & Vehicles in Sydney [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/lga/LGA17200/sydney/topic/transport