Author Topic: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family  (Read 3999 times)

marty998

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Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« on: August 21, 2016, 09:38:22 PM »
Again illustrating why commuting is bad:

Quote
AAA (Australian Automobile Association) spokesman Nick Tyrrell said the index included a wide range of costs families face when they own a car, including upfront and ongoing costs which increase the more a vehicle is driven, along with public transport costs.

Mr Tyrrell said Sydney had topped the list with 17 per cent of total household income spent on transport.

"It is actually incredible, $420 a week for a typical Sydney family, and when you think about it, that is a huge expense."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-22/sydney-tops-national-transport-affordibility-index/7771678?section=business
« Last Edit: August 21, 2016, 09:46:58 PM by marty998 »

HappierAtHome

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2016, 09:48:12 PM »
What the hell?

How is that possible?

How much does public transport cost in Sydney??

nnls

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2016, 10:05:29 PM »
What the hell?

How is that possible?

How much does public transport cost in Sydney??

I think it's mainly that people drive and the toll roads, higher CTP and higher insurance prices. I have a friend who lives in Sydney for him to get to where he works via public transport he would have to leave his house at 9pm the night before or something stupid.

Rustycage

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2016, 10:24:54 PM »
When I did some rough calculations, I figured it cost me approximately $50 per week to run my car (commute to work is 6 kms one-way). But that is for a 10 y.o. little hatch-back which does the job.

Is $370 per week of that $420 spent on the lease of a X5/M-class/Q-class soccer-mum car?


If using public transport, I wonder what the time-cost equivalent would be ....
« Last Edit: August 21, 2016, 10:26:34 PM by Rustycage »

Fresh Bread

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2016, 11:30:28 PM »
I had a read of the report and it seems to have held the car loan and car km assumptions the same across the capital cities. They use a hypothetical family and assume each family has 2 cars, one old, one new with a loan, and one person drives to the city from a middle suburb each day. Parking costs were not included. The varying factors seem to be tolls, cost of CTP insurance, rego and public transport.

I don't drive to the city but I know from trips I've made for work that going from the north west to the city and back could cost you $20+ a day in tolls. I would like to think that the people who would encounter the ultra high tolls would be using a park and ride option with bus and train (I think most tolls are avoidable by train or rapid bus) so these hypothetical families are just that. The most it costs to go by bus in metro Sydney to the city is $10 return, but granted it could take 2 hours ;)

Fresh Bread

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #5 on: August 21, 2016, 11:38:31 PM »
Also read that they assume both the old and new car are comprehensively insured... Does anyone comprehensively insure a 10 year old car? I don't on my 9 year old work van, it's probably worth about $4k and business comp is about $2k!! Granted private comp insurance on a beater would be less, but still a few hundred maybe?

HappierAtHome

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2016, 11:58:21 PM »
Does anyone comprehensively insure a 10 year old car?

Most people I know with older cars do indeed get comprehensive insurance for them. My car (which is my household's only car) is eight years old and I guess we have only had third party for the last... three years?

marty998

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2016, 01:49:48 AM »
I don't comprehensively insure my car. It's 15 years old. If I did, the agreed value would be something like $2000... Seems a waste to pay an extra $3-400 in insurance for it. They recover a bit from me with a higher CTP though. Can't beat the bastards :(

$22,000 makes quite a bit of sense when you figure most people replace their cars every 5 years or so.

Lets say $20,000 per car every 5 years.... Thats $6,400 per year in depreciation (assuming $4,000 scrap value each). Most people spend quite a bit more on their cars than that.

Petrol... say $3500 per year per car = $7,000

Rego + CTP + Insurance = say $1,300 per car = $2,600 (much more if you have teen drivers)

Annual Car service + repairs say average $500 per year per car for arguments sake ($1,000)

So we are at $17,000 before you factor in tolls, parking, dare I mention it speeding fines, parking tickets etc. They also added in the cost of your licence renewal.

Then add in public transport usage.

I can see how it all adds up.

Now in order to pay $22,000 a year, the average person needs to earn over $34,000 pre tax!

It's all very ridiculous.

Little Aussie Battler

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2016, 03:40:20 AM »
Is A$22,000 really 17% of Sydney household income?

Fresh Bread

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2016, 04:30:04 AM »
Is A$22,000 really 17% of Sydney household income?

It is 17% of the average household income, but the $22K is a hypothetical amount based on someone choosing to drive through all the tolls to the city, which could be $5k of that. I would expect someone on an average income to do their best to avoid those but obviously some people would do it because it's convenient or work's paying. I expect all the other costs are reasonably accurate.

Papa Mustache

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2016, 07:37:23 AM »
I figure people carry comp insurance even on older cars b/c as has been discussed in other threads - doing anything like collision vehicle repairs out of cash accounts is impossible for so many people. They have no savings. Americans would have problems raising $400. How bad off are the Aussies? Better? Worse?

And then there are those people who blindly stumble through life not considering how much they are dollar and diming themselves into bankruptcy. Of course they aren't going to consider the cost of comp vs basic liability.

stripey

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2016, 08:44:18 AM »
I had comp on older cars for a while mostly because I was doing 'bad-time-of-the-day' country driving far too often and totaled a few hitting kangaroos in the space of a couple of years. However they were valued for more than I paid for them when they were being written off so I actually made money off the accidents. I found bargain cars!

As I'm currently living in a capital city, no comp insurance for me.

A younger sibling lives in Sydney, transportation costs are nowhere near that. Sibling The Younger can live off the smell of an oily rag though and puts my MMM bristles to shame.

Jack

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2016, 09:01:59 AM »
Translated to American, that would be about $8K USD in Atlanta (with household income ~$50K USD) -- which sadly, seems pretty accurate for what people car clowns here spend too (even though Atlanta only has one toll, and it's an optional toll lane rather than a whole road).

I had comp on older cars for a while mostly because I was doing 'bad-time-of-the-day' country driving far too often and totaled a few hitting kangaroos in the space of a couple of years.

Are brush guards a thing in Australia?

Papa Mustache

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2016, 04:00:39 PM »
Yes, aren't they called 'Roo Bars there?

How much damage does a Kangaroo do vs an American deer?

I know the deer I hit broke every piece of plastic on the front of our car, bent the hood and partially collapsed the bumper beam (which is what it is supposed to do). I fixed it all myself via internet shopping.

stripey

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #14 on: August 23, 2016, 12:08:44 AM »
I never had a car large enough to have a roo bar. I've only hit a deer once, and it was a mild deflecting impact, so I can't really tell you from personal experience. And although I'm entirely happy to repair/replace many things on a car (yes, even a timing belt once), once the chassis is mangled...

Sorry for derailing the thread :)
« Last Edit: August 23, 2016, 12:10:35 AM by stripey »

marty998

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Re: Sydney commuting costs $22k per year for the average family
« Reply #15 on: August 23, 2016, 01:24:52 AM »
Bull bars? They are literally designed to snap a pelvis in half...

They kill more people than animals. Never seen the sense in having it for city driving. Country roads, fair enough, it will definitely save your truck in the event of roo or cow strike.

Nothing will save you from a deranged wombat though as one unfortunate lady found out last week.