Illawarra residents may be giving up on the long commute to Sydney and working from home instead, according to Transport for NSW data.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
During the COVID pandemic the number of rail trips made on the South Coast line was slashed in half, from an average of 800,000 a month.
Sixteen months after pandemic restrictions were lifted commuter numbers have failed to bounce back, now sitting at around 50 per cent of the pre-COVID average.
Workers had grown accustomed to the idea of doing their job from home and were reluctant to return to their once-regular commute.
RDA Illawarra CEO Debra Murphy said the figures represented a strong change in approach from Illawarra workers.
"The daily commute to work, whether that be from Kiama to Wollongong or from the Illawarra into Sydney, was once a hated but necessary fact of life for people in this region if they wanted to secure their dream job," Ms Murphy said.
"COVID proved that with the technology available today, it is no longer necessary for many workers to spend up to four hours of their day travelling to and from the office and they have found a new work-life balance."
Ms Murphy said it remained to be seen whether this was an early sign of a lasting change, or if businesses would continue to push workers to return to the office full-time.
"The question is whether this will change in the future," she said.
"Will workers heed the call for a full return to the office or job site? Or will businesses need to permanently incorporate some type of hybrid working system in order to attract the best staff possible?"
RDA Illawarra had also looked at the data for road travel along Picton and Heathcote roads as well as Broughton Street near Camden.
While the change as not been as dramatic, post-COVID the combined number of trips on those roads is down almost 30 per cent compared to 2019 figures.
Ms Murphy acknowledged it was harder to link the fall to changes in the work commute, but said it did suggest that something had changed in the wake of the pandemic.
"COVID changed the playing field and has shown both businesses and workers that there are many factors to be considered when it comes to accessing jobs and suitable employees," she said.
"It could mean Illawarra businesses have greater ability to employ locally or large corporations could consider satellite regional sites for their businesses in order to reduce travel times.
"It could mean workers negotiate on wage expectations in favour of a hybrid remote working environment."
Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play.