Factsheet: Key Facts 1997/98 (text update)

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DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND
THE REGIONS
Key Transport Facts 1980-1999

• Trend 1 Growth in passenger transport and
  freight compared with GDP
• Passenger transport and freight moved (billion
  tonne kilometres) have grown broadly in line with
  increased economic activity.

• Trend 2 Passenger transport by mode
• The majority of growth in passenger transport has
  been in car travel, which now accounts for 85 per
  cent of the total.
• Bus travel (the dominant mode until the mid
  1950s) now only accounts for six per cent of
  total passenger travel.
• Rail accounts for 6 per cent (increasing from 5
  per cent in the mid-1990s). However, it is an
  important commuting mode in the SE, accounting
  for over three quarters of people entering
  central London during the morning peak.

August 2001
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• Trend 3 Freight transport by mode
• The majority of the growth in freight moved
  (tonne-kilometres) has been due to road freight,
  which now accounts for 65 per cent of total
  freight (90 per cent excluding water and
  pipeline).
• Water accounts for nearly a quarter of freight
  moved, but more than half of this is traffic with
  islands and off-shore installations where there
  is no other practical alternative.
• The growth in tonnes moved (tonne kilometres) has
  been much greater than that in tonnes lifted
  reflecting a 40 per cent increase since 1980 in
  the average distance that goods are carried by
  road.

• Trend 4 Real changes in the cost of transport
  compared with disposable income
• Ever cheaper cars have helped to keep the real
  cost of motoring fairly constant even with recent
  fuel price increases, whilst disposable income
  has risen.
• Bus and rail fares have continued to increase,
  but at a slower rate in recent years.

August 2001
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• Trend 5 Uncoupling road traffic growth from
  economic and environmental impacts 1980-1999
• Road traffic has continued to increase, although
  more slowly than GDP since 1993 (the period when
  fuel prices were rising). It is forecast to
  increase by 17 per cent over the decade to 2010
  (allowing for the impact of the 10 Year Plan).
• Over the last decade, due to fuel and
  technological improvements, levels of some
  pollutants (such as particulates and nitrogen
  oxide) have fallen despite the continued increase
  in road traffic.
• Road traffic is responsible for around 25 per
  cent of carbon dioxide emissions (the most
  important greenhouse gas). There has been limited
  success in uncoupling carbon dioxide emissions
  from road traffic growth.

• Trend 6 Households with regular use of car(s)
  1960, 1980 and 1999
• Seventy two per cent of households now have use
  of at least one car - this has increased from
  half of all households at the end of the 1960s.
  Over a quarter of households now have two or more
  cars.
• Twenty eight per cent of households do not have
  the regular use of a car, but this rises to 64
  per cent for the poorest fifth of households.
  Three quarters of single pensioner households,
  and 61 per cent of single parent families, do not
  have a car.

August 2001
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• Trend 7 Changing trip lengths (all surface
  modes) versus total trips 1985/86 - 1998/2000
• The total mileage travelled per person has
  increased significantly since the mid 1980s. This
  is because, whilst the total number of trips made
  by people has remained fairly static, average
  trip lengths have increased by a quarter from 5.2
  miles to 6.6 miles.
• This trend is largely due to increased use of the
  car. Between 1985/86 and 1998/2000 the proportion
  of trips by car increased from 51 per cent to 62
  per cent, and there was a corresponding decline
  in walking trips from 34 per cent to 26 per cent.
• For cars, total trips made per person have risen
  from 520 in the mid 1980s to 640 in 1998/2000,
  whilst average trip length also increased from
  7.8 to 8.7 miles. Most of the increase in trips
  by car has been by women, linked with their
  increasing participation in the workplace and
  propensity to hold a driving licence.

Trend 8 Fuel consumption 1980 - 1999 Between
1980 and 1999, fuel use by road passenger
vehicles increased by a third whilst distance
travelled increased by half. Fuel consumption per
road passenger mile is now ten per cent below the
1980 level.
August 2001