We love driving: survey

Government stats show public transport costs too much

By PH Staff / Friday, 29 April 2005 / Loading comments

Now it's too expensive...

We're more reliant on our cars than ever before as the price of using public transport soars. That's the message from government statistics released today by the Department of Transport, providing a three-yearly snapshot of how people in Britain get about.

According to the Personal Travel survey, people’s travel has grown broadly in line with the increase in economic growth since 1980, but in the last 10 years there has been some uncoupling of travel growth from economic growth as travel has grown more slowly.

In the last decade, the average distance travelled per person per year increased by six per cent to nearly 6,900 miles. Over the same period the number of trips fell by five per cent to under 1,000, though the average time spent travelling stayed at around 360 hours. The average trip length rose by 12 per cent to nearly seven miles.

Key points:

The proportion of households with access to one or more cars increased from 59 per cent in 1980 to 74 per cent in 2002.
The average annual distance travelled by people as car drivers rose by 15 per cent during the 1990s, whereas the distance travelled by people as car passengers hardly changed during this period.
The average distance walked fell by 20 per cent during the 1990s and the distance travelled by local bus declined by 11 per cent. Both of these declines reflect increased use of cars and that people are travelling further.
Bus and rail fares both rose in real terms by over a third between 1980 and 2003. In contrast, the overall real cost of motoring has remained at or below its 1980 level.

Analysis

As people become better off they travel more. People’s travel, as measured by passenger kilometres, has grown broadly in line with the increase in economic growth since 1980, but in the last 10 years there has been some uncoupling of travel growth from economic growth as travel has grown more slowly.

An increase in car ownership has led to a decrease in walking and bus use and in car occupancy. The decrease in car occupancy has led to a slower increase in travel than traffic, as measured by total vehicle kilometres.

The full document is here.