6.1% ▼ -25.5%
Higher than 63% of council (lga) areas.
- 2011: 8.1%
- 2016: 6.9%
- 2021: 6.1%
Share of occupied private dwellings with no registered motor vehicle.
Ballarat · Council (LGA)
Transport & Vehicles in Ballarat
How households get around — the vehicles they keep and the journey to work.
A significant shift in how people travel has occurred in Ballarat since 2011, most notably with a 12 point jump in those working from home. While the area has a high number of public transport stops and routes, the city remains heavily reliant on cars for daily travel.
Vehicles
Motor vehicles per home, and homes with no car.
Most homes in Ballarat have at least one car, with 37.6% owning two and 37.9% owning one. Only 6.1% of households have no motor vehicle, a figure that has fallen by 2.1 points since 2011.
Motor vehicles per home
View on map →Ballarat splits fairly evenly between 1 vehicle (38%) and 2 vehicles (38%), with 3 vehicles at 12%.
Getting to work
How people travel to work.
Working from home has risen to 15.5%, though this remains well below the national figure of 21.0%. Public transport use for commuting is rare at 0.8%, which is a little below the national average and has fallen since 2011.
15.5% ▲ +353.9%
Higher than 67% of council (lga) areas.
- 2011: 3.4%
- 2016: 3.8%
- 2021: 15.5%
Share of employed people aged 15+ who worked at home on census day.
0.8% ▼ -58.9%
Lower than 53% of council (lga) areas.
- 2011: 2.1%
- 2016: 2.1%
- 2021: 0.8%
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.
Ballarat provides a high level of access with 615 public transport stops and 33 routes. With 5.41 stops per 1,000 people, this is much higher than most areas and a little above the Victorian figure.
615
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.
5.41
Higher than 77% 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).
1,033.3
Higher than 80% 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).
33
Higher than 79% 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 across the region takes time, with a typical drive to the city taking 82 minutes. This is higher than most areas, as is the typical 50-minute walk to the nearest transport stop.
50
Higher than 78% 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.
82
Higher than 62% 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 Ballarat
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Transport & Vehicles in Ballarat [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/lga/LGA20570/ballarat/topic/transport