30 years of travel in Melbourne: 1978/79 and 2007/08

This paper compares travel behaviour for Melbourne reported in the 1978/79 Melbourne Home Interview Travel Survey and the Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity, conducted some 30 years later in 2007/08. Key behavioural indicators used in transport planning analysis are examined and compared, including weekday peak period and all-day travel by mode, travel generation rates, trip length frequencies, average trip lengths and public transport mode share by time of day and purpose. The outcomes provide useful insights into the travel patterns and behaviours of Melbournians that are of relevance in transport planning and policy analysis. They may be further considered in the context of land-use, demographic, transport network development and transport policy impacts that have occurred in Melbourne over this 30 year period, and the influences that these have had on travel. Of interest are not only the changes in travel behaviour, but also those behaviours that have remained stable. 1.