Visitors is costing full-time drivers in Australia’s greatest cities 1000’s of {dollars} a 12 months in misplaced time and gas, in response to new evaluation for iSelect’s Delayed Drives report.
Throughout the 11 largest cities, commuters who drive to work collectively lose about 212 million hours a 12 months in visitors and spend one other $462 million in additional gas.
The estimated price to the financial system is $9.7 billion, primarily based on the misplaced alternative price – ie the lack of potential achieve attributable to congestion.
In whole, subsequently, visitors is costing drivers greater than $10.1 billion yearly.
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On a per-driver foundation, the examine finds the common full-time employee in Australia’s main cities loses round 59 hours a 12 months to visitors, or roughly two and a half days, at a mean annual price of about $2788 in time and gas.
| Key metric | Determine |
|---|---|
| Whole time misplaced in visitors (11 cities) | ~212 million hours per 12 months |
| Whole annual congestion price | Simply over $10.1 billion |
| Common per full-time driver (main cities) | ~59 hours a 12 months (~2.5 days) |
| Common per-driver price | Round $2788 a 12 months |
| Costliest metropolis for drivers | Melbourne – $4628 a 12 months, 3d 22h misplaced |
| Metropolis with most time misplaced | Sydney – $4568 a 12 months, 4d 0h 25m misplaced |
| Least impacted metropolis | Darwin – $1390 a 12 months, 1d 3h 32m misplaced |
| Highest price occupation | Medical practitioners – $6784 a 12 months |
Utilizing TomTom visitors information, ABS Census commuting patterns, median hourly earnings, and real-world gas consumption, the evaluation compares how congestion hits drivers in every metropolis’s CBD and wider metro space.
On price, Melbourne comes out worst. The everyday full-time driver there loses 3 days, 22 hours and 5 minutes to visitors every year, with an estimated annual congestion invoice of $4628, made up of about $4457 in misplaced time and $171 in additional gas.
Sydney drivers lose barely extra time to visitors total, at 4 days and 25 minutes per 12 months, however barely much less cash, at $4568 a 12 months in mixed time and gas prices. Most of that’s the alternative price of time, at round $4406 a 12 months, plus $162 in additional gas.
Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide spherical out the highest 5 cities on annual congestion price, every above $3300 a 12 months for time and gas mixed. On the different finish of the dimensions, Darwin drivers lose about 1 day, 3 hours and 32 minutes a 12 months to visitors, at a value of round $1390.
When the main focus shifts to CBD driving, Adelaide has the slowest inner-city rush-hour visitors within the examine.
On a typical 20km spherical journey by town centre, Adelaide drivers lose about 22 minutes and 10 seconds a day in comparison with free-flow circumstances. That provides as much as roughly 3 days and 13 hours a 12 months spent sitting in visitors, with a mean rush-hour congestion degree of about 66 per cent.
Melbourne’s metropolis centre is simply simply behind, with drivers shedding about 21 minutes and 55 seconds a day on the identical 20km spherical journey, or 3 days and 12 hours a 12 months, whereas Sydney and Brisbane comply with. Wollongong and Darwin report the smallest CBD time losses, with drivers there shedding just a little over 7 minutes a day to inner-city congestion.
Wanting on the wider metro areas, Sydney is once more hardest hit. Throughout the larger metropolitan area, the common rush-hour pace drops to round 27km/h, turning a 20km return commute into greater than 44 minutes on the street and costing drivers about quarter-hour a day in additional journey time in comparison with optimum circumstances.
Melbourne ranks second on metro congestion, adopted by Adelaide, Newcastle and the Gold Coast, whereas Darwin once more has the smoothest runs.
The burden isn’t unfold evenly throughout the workforce. When the information is damaged down by occupation, stationary plant operators lose essentially the most time, with lengthy common commutes, little or no make money working from home and 4 days, 10 hours and seven minutes a 12 months misplaced to visitors.
Defence drive members, firefighters and police are shut behind on time misplaced, at 4 days, 5 hours and 12 minutes a 12 months, adopted by medical practitioners and several other technical and commerce occupations that additionally spend greater than 4 days a 12 months in congestion.
On pure greenback price, medical practitioners are hit hardest. With a median hourly wage of about $65.60 and greater than 4 days a 12 months misplaced in visitors, their mixed time and gas invoice involves round $6784 a 12 months. Air and marine transport professionals, well being diagnostic and promotion professionals, ICT managers and promoting and PR managers all face congestion prices within the $5100 to $5400 vary.
For drivers in these roles, congestion is successfully an unpaid extension of the workday, and for a lot of metropolis commuters, the examine suggests visitors is now a excessive hidden price of holding down a job that depends on the automobile.
The Delayed Drives modelling is predicated on ABS 2021 Census information and the ABS Traits of Employment 2024 for commute distances, work-from-home days and hourly earnings, mixed with petrol costs from the ACCC’s June 2025 Australian Petroleum Market Report, real-world gas consumption figures from the Actual World Testing Program, and drivetrain combine information from BITRE’s Highway Automobiles Australia 2025 report.
Desk 1: Annual congestion time and value by metropolis
(Full-time staff who drive to work, 2025 estimates)
| Rank | Metropolis | Yearly time misplaced to visitors | Annual congestion price (time + gas) | Of which misplaced time | Additional gas price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne | 3 days, 22 hr, 5 min | $4628 | $4457 | $171 |
| 2 | Sydney | 4 days, 0 hr, 25 min | $4568 | $4406 | $162 |
| 3 | Perth | 2 days, 21 hr, 35 min | $3496 | $3292 | $204 |
| 4 | Brisbane | 3 days, 1 hr, 46 min | $3447 | $3259 | $188 |
| 5 | Adelaide | 3 days, 5 hr, 50 min | $3377 | $3225 | $152 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 2 days, 6 hr, 12 min | $2587 | $2409 | $178 |
| 7 | Gold Coast | 2 days, 4 hr, 45 min | $2443 | $2244 | $199 |
| 8 | Canberra | 1 day, 16 hr, 14 min | $2244 | $2118 | $126 |
| 9 | Hobart | 1 day, 20 hr, 58 min | $1856 | $1700 | $156 |
| 10 | Wollongong | 1 day, 15 hr, 21 min | $1814 | $1574 | $240 |
| 11 | Darwin | 1 day, 3 hr, 32 min | $1390 | $1213 | $176 |
Desk 2: Metropolis centre rush-hour delays, by metropolis
(Typical 20km spherical journey by CBD, 2025 estimates)
| Rank | Metropolis | Every day additional time in visitors | Additional time in rush hour per 12 months | Rush-hour congestion degree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelaide | 22 min 10 sec | 3 days 13 hours | 66.0% |
| 2 | Melbourne | 21 min 55 sec | 3 days 12 hours | 66.6% |
| 3 | Sydney | 19 min 34 sec | 3 days 3 hours | 53.3% |
| 4 | Brisbane | 18 min 31 sec | 2 days 23 hours | 60.3% |
| 5 | Gold Coast | 15 min 39 sec | 2 days 12 hours | 50.9% |
| 6 | Perth | 14 min 21 sec | 2 days 7 hours | 53.1% |
| 7 | Newcastle | 13 min 34 sec | 2 days 4 hours | 45.7% |
| 8 | Hobart | 13 min 34 sec | 2 days 4 hours | 48.6% |
| 9 | Canberra | 11 min 29 sec | 1 day 20 hours | 44.9% |
| 10 | Wollongong | 7 min 50 sec | 1 day 6 hours | 35.0% |
| 11 | Darwin | 7 min 18 sec | 1 day 4 hours | 30.5% |
Desk 3: Occupations shedding essentially the most time in visitors
(Prime 10 by yearly time misplaced, Australia-wide, full-time staff who drive to work)
| Rank | Occupation | Yearly time misplaced to visitors | Annual congestion price (time + gas) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stationary plant operators | 4 days, 10 hr, 7 min | $4892 |
| 2 | Defence drive members, firefighters and police | 4 days, 5 hr, 12 min | $4955 |
| 3 | Medical practitioners | 4 days, 4 hr, 9 min | $6784 |
| 4 | Well being diagnostic and promotion professionals | 4 days, 2 hr, 31 min | $5418 |
| 5 | Electronics and telecommunications trades staff | 4 days, 0 hr, 46 min | $4574 |
| 6 | Constructing and engineering technicians | 3 days, 18 hr, 22 min | $4893 |
| 7 | Well being remedy professionals | 3 days, 17 hr, 51 min | $4678 |
| 8 | Midwifery and nursing professionals | 3 days, 14 hr, 42 min | $4608 |
| 9 | Engineering professionals | 3 days, 12 hr, 39 min | $4953 |
| 10 | Pure and bodily science professionals | 3 days, 9 hr, 53 min | $4596 |
