23.4% ▲ +3.9%
Higher than 98% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 22.5%
- 2016: 23.9%
- 2021: 23.4%
Share of occupied private dwellings with no registered motor vehicle.
South Melbourne · Suburb / Locality
Transport & Vehicles in South Melbourne
How households get around — the vehicles they keep and the journey to work.
Fewer cars and a huge shift toward remote work define the way people move in South Melbourne. Nearly half of the workforce now works from home, which is far above the national figure, and over 23% of homes have no motor vehicle at all.
Vehicles
Motor vehicles per home, and homes with no car.
Many residents here live without a car, with 23.4% of homes owning no motor vehicle. This is far above the 7.6% seen across Victoria, while 55.7% of households keep a single vehicle.
Motor vehicles per home
View on map →In South Melbourne, 1 vehicle is the majority at 56%; No vehicle is next at 23%.
Getting to work
How people travel to work.
Working from home is very common at 46.9%, which is far above the national figure of 21%. Public transport use for commuting is also among the highest for similar areas, at 6.5%.
46.9% ▲ +841.0%
Higher than 95% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 5.0%
- 2016: 5.8%
- 2021: 46.9%
Share of employed people aged 15+ who worked at home on census day.
6.5% ▼ -70.7%
Higher than 94% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 22.1%
- 2016: 23.2%
- 2021: 6.5%
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.
Public transport is highly available, with 2,365.1 weekly departures per 1,000 people, far above the Victorian figure. There are 46 stops serving the area, mainly via tram and light rail.
46
Higher than 87% of suburb / locality areas.
Scheduled public-transport stops (bus, train, tram and ferry) located in the area, from the state GTFS feeds.
3.98
Higher than 73% of suburb / locality areas.
Public-transport stops per 1,000 residents — a measure of how densely an area is served (GTFS stops; population from the 2021 Census).
2,365.1
Higher than 94% of suburb / locality 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).
11
Higher than 86% of suburb / locality areas.
Distinct public-transport routes serving stops in the area (GTFS feeds).
144,414
Higher than 92% of suburb / locality areas.
How many people live within 30 minutes of the area by public transport + walking on a weekday morning — a measure of how well-connected the area is (computed with R5 over the GTFS schedules + OpenStreetMap network).
342,331
Higher than 89% of suburb / locality areas.
How many people live within 45 minutes of the area by public transport + walking on a weekday morning (computed with R5 over the GTFS schedules + OpenStreetMap network).
25
Lower than 97% of suburb / locality areas.
Public-transport + walking time, in minutes, from the area to its capital city centre on a weekday morning (R5 over the GTFS schedules + OpenStreetMap network). Blank where no scheduled service connects the area to the city.
Getting around
Walking distance to transport and driving time to the city.
The area is exceptionally accessible, with a typical one-minute walk to the nearest stop. It is also very close to the city, with a typical five-minute drive time.
1
Lower than 99% of suburb / locality 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 suburb / locality 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)).
- Transit accessibility (GTFS + OpenStreetMap, via R5) — State transport agencies & OpenStreetMap contributors, 2026 (ODbL 1.0 + CC BY).
- Road & path network (OpenStreetMap, via Valhalla) — OpenStreetMap contributors, 2026 (ODbL 1.0).
More for South Melbourne
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Transport & Vehicles in South Melbourne [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/sal/SAL22310/south-melbourne/topic/transport