The AAA welcomed the significant increase in spending on land transport infrastructure in the October 2020 federal Budget, with investment increasing from $9.25 billion in 2020-21 to $12.89 billion in 2023-24.
Household transport costs fell in the year of Covid as Australian families spent 4.6% less on transport in 2020 than the previous year. A typical household spent $310 per week on transport, or 12.5% of its income.
This edition shows that transport costs, like the economy, are showing early, tentative signs of recovery back into growth as Australia emerges from the pandemic-fuelled downturn, increasing by 1.2 per cent in the third quarter.
Transport costs have fallen by 5.8 per cent since the beginning of the year. However, many households are not feeling the full impact of the reduction in costs as the pandemic keeps many Australians off our roads and away from public transport.
Normally, it would have been good news for households, with the AAA’s Transport Affordability Index confirming that average transport costs in the first quarter of 2020 decreased by 2.1 per cent compared to the previous quarter. Unfortunately, however, many Australians could not take full advantage of these cost decreases due to the impacts and restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic progressively taking effect during the period.