If you work, live or study in Melbourne, we’re interested in where and how you travel by foot.
Insight GIS is conducting a study trial on behalf of the City of Melbourne to better understand pedestrian activity in the municipality. Walkers will be provided with a GPS logger or a Smartphone app so that your travel patterns within the municipality can be recorded on a particular day.
The study trial runs from 7 to 28 May.
Contact Insight GIS on (03) 6234 5833 or contact us by email if you are interested in participating.
Monitoring pedestrian traffic
The City of Melbourne collects data on pedestrian movements throughout the city to monitor key economic, social and cultural activities of the city. It does so by using an automated pedestrian counting system capable of collecting time series data in multiple locations across the city 24/7. The information ultimately has the capacity to track pedestrian movements on the street over time and monitors the effects of changes in the population, land use, marketing campaigns and major events on the number of people in the city.
The pedestrian counting system has been active since January 2006 and the system was upgraded in 2009.
No private or confidential information is collected by the system.
Contact: City of Melbourne on 03 9658 9658
Date published: June 2011
Next updated: To be advised
Sources: City of Melbourne, City Research
City of Melbourne Daily Population Estimates and Forecasts 2004–2030, 2011 update
Having high standard services and facilities that serve the working, visiting, studying and resident population, Melbourne has become busier than ever before. It is estimated that approximately 788,000 people travel to or present in the Melbourne municipality on a daily basis in 2010. This represents a 3.5 per cent growth between 2008 and 2010 despite the concerns over the Global Financial Crisis.
The number of daily population to Melbourne municipality is set to grow at 2.1 per cent annually in the next two decades reaching a million mark in the next ten years.
Download report
City of Melbourne Daily Population Estimates and Forecasts (Word, 14.1MB) 
(Please note this is a large file and may take some time to download.)
City of Melbourne Daily Population Estimates and Forecasts (Text only, 260kb)
Contact: Boreak Silk
Date published: June 2011
Next updated: July 2013
Sources: see document
Central City Users Survey 2010
The main objectives of the study are to measure the volume and patterns of city users, provide key information about them and observe recent trends. More specifically, the project aims at understanding all aspects — who, where, why, what and how of the city users by answering to the following questions:
- How many people use the city on a typical weekday and weekend day?
- How many people use the city during the daytime and at night?
- Who are city users and where do they come from?
- Why do they come to the city?
- What do they do in the city?
- How much do they spend while they are in the city?
- Where do they go while they are in the city?
- How do they get to and around the city?
- Have they changed their mode of transport over the past 12 months? And why?
The survey was first conducted in May 2004 and this, the foruth, was conducted in May 2010 by NWC Opinion Research. It covers a predefined Central City Area (CCA) comprising the CBD, Docklands and Southbank.
Download report
Central City Users Survey 2010 report (PDF, 1.2MB)
Central City Users Survey 2010 report (Text only, 375kb)
Key findings
- Based primarily on CATI survey data and NVS-IVS data, it is estimated that there are 599,000 people aged 15 years or over using the central city area on a typical weekday (an average of Monday to Friday) and 510,000 on a typical weekend day, (an average of Saturday and Sunday). This represents a 9.6 per cent growth or 52,000 people over the 2008 estimate for weekday or 13.2 for weekend users.
- Average daily spending remained relatively high. Workers spent $28 on a typical weekday and $24 and on a typical weekend day.
- Victorian visitors have the highest daily spend, between $120 and $150. This includes accommodation but excludes travel costs.
Appendices:
Available upon request
Contact: Boreak Silk
Date published: December 2010
Next updated: December 2012
Sources: see document
Related statistical information