The commuting behaviour of NSW workers

Commuting is the manifestation of spatial imbalance between the location of jobs and housing. This imbalance can limit the capacity of workers to take up certain jobs, due the constraints of information, time and income. There is evidence that workers in higher status occupations commute further whereas disadvantaged groups and some women face spatial entrapment due to competing family demands and employment in casual jobs with limited working hours. Extensive commuting imposes high social and economic costs from congestion and demands for the provision of adequate transport infrastructure which is generally under-utilised. In this paper we analyse the determinants of commuting behaviour by occupation across NSW Statistical Local Areas. The extent to which the pattern of commuting is linked to measures of the spatial imbalance between residents and jobs, relative wages, occupational status and access to different forms of transportation is explored