The 2016 ACTCOSS ACT Cost of Living Report tracks changes in the cost of living with a specific focus on transport costs.
Key findings are that Canberra has the second highest expenditure on transport amongst capital cities in the country. Darwin, the city with the highest transport expenditure is $233.78, with Canberra only marginally behind on $232.23. These two cities are considerably higher than the others with the average weekly figure of all capital cities being $194.44. Canberra households spend almost as much on transport ($232) as they do on food ($235). Apart from Darwin (and the NT as a whole), where expenditure on transport in fact does exceed expenditure on food, all other capital cities spend between $15 and $40 more per week on food than on transport.
This data strongly suggests that transport costs are considerable in the ACT and further compound the cost of living challenges faced by people on low incomes in meeting their transport needs.
