In Brisbane, 75.3 per cent of people drove to work on census day in 2016, while in Melbourne that number was 74.4 per cent and in Sydney it was 65.5 per cent.

While one in five Sydney residents caught the train, bus, tram or ferry to work, only one in 10 Brisbane residents travelled by public transport, and 13.4 per cent in Melbourne.

The revelations come as part of the latest release from the 2016 census, following the data published in June.

People living in Sydney were also more likely to commute via bicycle or walk than people from Melbourne or Brisbane.

In greater Brisbane, slightly fewer people caught the train, bus or walked to work on census day - August 9, 2016 - compared with five years earlier.

But more people drove themselves to work or rode a bicycle than in 2011.

There was a higher percentage of women commuting on trains and buses in Brisbane compared with men, and men were more likely to drive or ride a bicycle, while walking was almost equally as popular for both genders.

People were more than twice as likely to opt for walking to their jobs rather than cycling in Brisbane.

There were also others who chose to catch a ferry, taxi or drive a truck.

While more than 870,000 Brisbane residents travelled to work using one method of transport in 2016 - up 60,000 people on five years earlier - there were 49,157 people working from home and 103,120 did not go to work on the day.

Griffith University urban research expert Matthew Burke said public transport use was up across the country, with more people choosing rail in particular.

"But that's very much a story of cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast," Dr Burke said.

"It's not a story about Brisbane, which if anything, has dragged the national growth rates down."

Dr Burke said the bad news was people were driving to work more and using active transport less.

"We are walking and cycling less, not more, contrary to most planners' expectations," he said.

"Cheaper petrol, low fuel taxes and our continued investments in freeways, toll roads and intelligent transport systems to make roads better and better for car movements just makes driving irresistible."

Dr Burke said Brisbane was doing much better than the national averages for public transport use and was on the average for walking and cycling.

"So we aren't laggard by any means," he said.

"But the heavy rail systems in Sydney and Melbourne have experienced tremendous patronage growth in recent years that Brisbane missed out on.

"Without a major shift in transport expenditures we will likely be looking at a very similar set of figures in five years time."

Across the state, almost 1.5 million Queenslanders used a car to get to work, up almost 8 per cent from 1.37 million in 2011.

Public transport advocate Robert Dow, from Rail Back on Track, said it was important to note the data reflected the whole city, saying more than 60 per cent of trips to the CBD took place on public transport.

"The public transport network in Brisbane and suburbs is radially fixated. It is no surprise then that journeys other than CBD public transport journeys are not popular," he said.

"Our public transport network is dysfunctional. We need proper bus network reform and a rail network that delivers frequency around the clock.

"What we have at present is a disconnected low-frequency shambles. The Census data confirms that."

In Australia, almost 69 per cent of the working population commuted by car, and 5 per cent travelled as a passenger.

Census program manager Bindi Kindermann said the results showed interesting insights into how people started their work day, helping governments, councils, business and other organisations plan for the future.

"Australians are still very much primarily reliant on cars, with the census revealing that car was the most common method of travel to work in all states, territories and capital cities," she said.

Ms Kindermann said residents of Adelaide recorded the highest rate of people who drove to work, accounting for almost 80 per cent of single-method trips, while residents of Canberra recorded the highest rate of people walking or cycling to work, perhaps reflecting its small size and town planning.