8.6.1  Urban transport

The value-add of urban transport in Darwin has been estimated using the top-down economic analysis used for all other sectors, rather than the bottom-up methodology used for urban transport in the six largest capital cities. This is because the detailed transport model used for the six largest capital cities was not available for Darwin.

For 2011, the DEC for urban transport in Darwin was estimated to be $600 million. This is projected to increase to $1.43 billion in 2031, an increase of 4.4 per cent per year, or 139 per cent in total.

The ABS method of travel to work data from the 2011 Census provides some insight into travel patterns within Darwin, though it is limited to travel to work on a single day in 2011.

Table 93 illustrates the high proportion of trips made using passenger vehicles, with 84.3 per cent of trips to work made using car, taxi or motorcycle. This is higher than other capital cities, and higher than the national average of 79.7 per cent for this measure.

Darwin also had the highest proportion of active travel of Australian capital cities, with nine per cent of the population walking or cycling to work. This is higher than the national average of six percent.529

However, Darwin also had the lowest utilisation of public transport of all capital cities, with only 3.4 per cent of trips to work made using public transport.530

Table 93: Travel to work mode share of Darwin residents

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012)

The Draft Darwin City Centre Master Plan, released in February 2014, outlines a set of potential projects and design principles for development of the city. The Plan briefly outlines a potential future light rail corridor that would connect Darwin's CBD to Casuarina and Palmerston, and proposes development of an integrated public transport plan.

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529.  Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012)

530.  Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012)