Queensland Travel Survey
How Queensland Travels
Across the state, transport connects people. From accessing work and education to making communities accessible and healthier, the transport choices we make shape our lives.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads conducts a program of regular travel surveys in centres across the state to better understand how Queenslanders travel. These surveys have occurred in south-east Queensland since 1976, and from 1986 onwards across the state’s regional centres.
The surveys provide information on the day-to-day travel behaviour of Queensland households, including how, where and why they travel, at what time of day trips are made and the average trip distance and duration. Results inform infrastructure and public transport planning, helping to ensure the transport system is ready for future growth and demand.
The Queensland household travel surveys provide a snapshot of key travel trends across Queensland, and informs how these trends shape our cities, regions and towns.
Online interactive reports for the most recent surveys are available at:
- Queensland household travel survey interactive report (South east Queensland, 2011, 2017 and 2018)
- How Queensland Travels (Queensland regional centres, 2011)
A non-interactive pdf version of the 2018 survey dashboards is also available for download.
A note about privacy
All data collected by the department as part of this program was de-identified at the time of receipt and remains completely confidential. Data shown in the Report is described at an aggregated level to further ensure the preservation of confidentiality.
Video transcript
[Voice over:] The Department of Transport and Main Roads collects travel information from people across Queensland to plan our transport future.
We all travel different ways from A to B, and how and why we travel often changes on weekends and holidays.
You might travel from A to B, then C, even D and back to B before home again to A.
You might make the entire journey in a car, or you might also walk and cycle, or catch a bus or a train.
Find out how your travel habits compare and are helping the Queensland Government to plan our state’s future transport.
See if your A to B is the norm, in towns and regions across Queensland.
See How Queensland Travels. Visit our website.
How Queensland Travel www.tmr.qld.gov.au
Queensland Government.
Authorised by the Queensland Government, Brisbane.
Spoken by Tony Byrne.
Participating in the survey
Households are selected at random within the sample region/town to participate in the Queensland Travel Survey. A member from the survey team will contact selected households via post and/or in person.
Around 850 South East Queensland (SEQ) households will be invited to participate in the survey each month, providing the department with vital travel information for one of Australia’s fastest growing regions.
Regional Queensland centres are typically surveyed every 5 years or in response to major changes in the transport network.
If you have been approached to participate in the survey you can access the travel diary at www.travelsurvey.tmr.qld.gov.au.
How Queensland Travels report
The How Queensland Travels report combines 3 decades of household travel research to tell a comprehensive story of how, where and why Queenslanders travel.
Regional fact sheets
Regional fact sheets provide detailed travel information for a number of Queensland centres and are based on the most recent surveys conducted in each region.
- Bundaberg
- Cairns
- Gladstone and Biloela
- Gympie, Gayndah, Kingaroy and Tin Can Bay/Cooloola
- Hervey Bay
- Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday
- Maryborough
- Rockhampton and Yeppoon
- South-east Queensland
- Townsville
- Toowoomba
Travel data can also be downloaded from the Queensland Government’s Data Portal.
- Last updated 09 January 2023