Report: Kiwis spend almost an hour a day travelling, but public transport use up

A new transport report shows Kiwis, on average, spend almost an hour a day travelling. Photo / File

New Zealanders are increasingly using public transport to commute, but the number of vehicles on our roads has increased significantly in the past 17 years, a new report shows.

The Transport Outlook: Current State report, released today, gives information on, and an analysis of the country's current and future transport system.

Figures show Kiwis spend, on average, almost an hour travelling every day.

Statistics from 2010 to 2014 show 53 per cent of people drive a car as their transport mode, 26 per cent were passengers in a vehicle, 17 per cent walked, 3 per cent used public transport, 1 per cent cycled and 1 per cent travelled by motorcycle.

Households with two cars are much more common than those with just one vehicle.

The number of people using public transport bumped up to 148 million public transport boardings last year, compared to 86 million boardings in 2000/2001.

Our vehicle fleet has grown 44 per cent over the past 17 years, and the number of people travelling on trains has gone up 67 per cent in the past five years.

The number of electrical vehicles represent just under 0.1 per cent of the vehicles on our roads, the report says, but they have more than double in the last year to 2430.

One third of young people hold a driver's licence - compared with almost half in 1989; and 3 per cent of children aged 5 to 12 years old cycled.

Associate Transport Minister Tim Macindoe said the report would help make informed decisions about transport services and infrastructure.

"Understanding transport demand and emerging trends in our transport system is crucial to ensure we can provide the right information for the general public and transport planners, investors and policymakers.

"The report combines information from all transport modes for the first time,'' he said.

"It provides invaluable information on what is happening in the New Zealand transport sector and analysis of what it means.''

The report also showed a huge increase in people using our airports, with about 38 million passengers coming through New Zealand airport terminals last year.

There were also 138 voyages (703 port days) via cruise ships in 2015/16. Those cruise ships brought in 254,409 passengers; making up a 26 per cent increase over 2014/15.

For the full report, visit: Transport Outlook Current State 2016