AUSTRALIA’S census has revealed that while Sydney unexpectedly has the nation’s lowest average motor vehicle ownership, Melbourne is in a unique position among capital cities by having falling car ownership and rising population.

In an insight into the census data and Australia’s transport sector, Charting Transport blogger Chris Loader found that certain suburbs have declining motor vehicle ownership indicating trends could be useful for dealers looking to expand their retail footprint.

Car ownership in Australia’s cities, in proportion to the population, are led by Perth, followed by Hobart, Canberra, Adelaide, Darwin, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

In between, larger cities and areas such as the Sunshine Coast, Newcastle-Maitland, Geelong, Townsville, Central Coast, Wollongong and Cairns are also high on the list of growing vehicle ownership.

Melbourne defies the trends of most other areas and cities by having hardly any increase in vehicle ownership over the past 10 years.

Mr Loader notes Melbourne has lower vehicle ownership in the inner city, inner north, inner west, and “the more socio-economically disadvantaged suburbs in the north and south-east”.

“Lower motor vehicle ownership is around train lines in many middle suburbs,” he wrote.

“Other pockets of low motor vehicle ownership are in Clayton (presumably associated with university students) and Box Hill, and curiously some of the growth areas in the west and north.

“Very high motor vehicle ownership can be seen in wealthier areas and the outer east.”

Areas with large population growth and yet declining vehicle ownership include Carlton, North Melbourne, Southbank, Docklands, Clayton and Tarneit.

Conversely, areas with small population growth and car ownership growth include Sunbury, Langwarrin, Richmond, Dandenong and Footscray.

There are also census observations such as:

• Population dense suburbs of Port Melbourne, Albert Park, Elwood have relatively high motor vehicle ownership.
• Gowanbrae has a medium population density but rapidly increasing car ownership possibly attributed to a limited Monday to Saturday bus service.
• Cranbourne South has an average population density but a high level of saturated car ownership.

Many Melbourne and Sydney local government authorities are rising in population and yet most have a decline in vehicle ownership.

However, there are exceptions. Sydney local government areas such as Woollahra, Mosman and Northern Beaches show increasing motor vehicle ownership concurrent with population growth.

By Neil Dowling