At a time when Australians are feeling cost of living pressures across the board, transport costs are rising almost twice as fast as inflation. The AAA’s June 2018 Transport Affordability Index shows transport costs rose in every city and region for the second quarter in a row.

Typical Australian households are now spending $600 to $750 a year more on transport than they were a year ago.

From June 2017 to June 2018, the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 2.1%, but the transport costs for a typical city family increased from $17,294 to $18,046 or 4.%.

The report’s benchmark Australian metropolitan household is now spending $18,046 on transport costs, an increase of $134 from the previous quarter and a rise of $754 from June 2017.

The benchmark regional household spends $14,466 per year on transport, an increase of $140 over the previous quarter and a rise of $603 from a year earlier.

The proportion of total household income being spent on transport increased for both the average metropolitan and average regional families, reaching 14.4% (up from 14.3%) and 12.6% (up from 12.5%) respectively.

“Policymakers around the country must seek policy solutions that can help curtail these rising transport costs,“ said AAA CEO Michael Bradley.