6.4% —
Higher than 67% of council (lga) areas.
- 2016: 7.2%
- 2021: 6.4%
Share of occupied private dwellings with no registered motor vehicle.
Cairns · Council (LGA)
Transport & Vehicles in Cairns
How households get around — the vehicles they keep and the journey to work.
A typical 64-minute walk to the nearest stop marks a significant gap in accessibility for many in Cairns. While the city has a high number of bus routes and services compared to other areas, car travel remains the dominant way people get around.
Vehicles
Motor vehicles per home, and homes with no car.
Most homes here have one or two cars, with 38.2% owning two and 37.7% owning one. About 6.4% of households have no motor vehicle, a figure that is higher than most areas and has fallen slightly since 2016.
Motor vehicles per home
View on map →Cairns splits fairly evenly between 2 vehicles (38%) and 1 vehicle (38%), with 3 vehicles at 12%.
Getting to work
How people travel to work.
Driving a car is the main way to get to work for 58.1% of people. Those working from home rose to 11.8% since 2016, though this is still well below the national figure of 21.0%.
11.8% —
Lower than 52% of council (lga) areas.
- 2016: 3.9%
- 2021: 11.8%
Share of employed people aged 15+ who worked at home on census day.
1.1% —
Higher than 52% of council (lga) areas.
- 2016: 1.8%
- 2021: 1.1%
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.
Cairns relies entirely on buses for its public transport, with 462 stops and 22 routes. This is more than most similar areas, and the weekly number of departures per 1,000 people is much higher than most areas.
462
Higher than 82% of council (lga) areas.
Scheduled public-transport stops (bus, train, tram and ferry) located in the area, from the state GTFS feeds.
2.77
Lower than 56% 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).
679.1
Higher than 75% 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).
22
Higher than 72% 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.
Despite the high number of bus services, the time it takes to walk to the nearest stop is much higher than in most other areas.
64
Higher than 88% 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.
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 Cairns
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Transport & Vehicles in Cairns [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/lga/LGA32080/cairns/topic/transport