16.7% ▼ -0.4%
Higher than 93% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 16.8%
- 2016: 15.6%
- 2021: 16.7%
Share of occupied private dwellings with no registered motor vehicle.
Cairns City · Suburb / Locality
Transport & Vehicles in Cairns City
How households get around — the vehicles they keep and the journey to work.
Cairns City has seen a shift toward more walkable and transit-friendly living since 2011. A striking 16.7% of homes have no motor vehicle, which is far above the Queensland figure. This makes the area stand out for its low car reliance compared to other similar places.
Vehicles
Motor vehicles per home, and homes with no car.
About 17% of homes have no motor vehicle, a rate well above the national figure. While over half of households have one car, only 21% have two.
Motor vehicles per home
View on map →In Cairns City, 1 vehicle is the majority at 56%; 2 vehicles is next at 21%.
Getting to work
How people travel to work.
Walking is a popular choice for the 22.4% of workers who use it to get to work. This helps explain why only 13.3% of people work from home, which is well below the Australian figure.
13.3% ▲ +109.3%
Lower than 61% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 6.4%
- 2016: 6.1%
- 2021: 13.3%
Share of employed people aged 15+ who worked at home on census day.
1.8% ▲ +2.2%
Higher than 78% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 1.8%
- 2016: 2.5%
- 2021: 1.8%
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.
Public transport is highly available with 20 routes and 11 stops, and weekly departures are far above the Queensland figure. Every single public transport service in the area is a bus.
11
Higher than 81% of suburb / locality areas.
Scheduled public-transport stops (bus, train, tram and ferry) located in the area, from the state GTFS feeds.
3.04
Higher than 70% 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).
3,925.3
Higher than 99% 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).
20
Higher than 86% of suburb / locality 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 to a stop is very easy here, as the typical walk to the nearest one takes only 3 minutes, which is much lower than most areas.
3
Lower than 79% 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.
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 City
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Transport & Vehicles in Cairns City [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/sal/SAL30478/cairns-city/topic/transport