Study reveals travel and transport trends
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Your support makes all the difference.The number of motorists with large-engined cars has almost doubled over the last decade, figures showed today.
The number of licensed vehicles with engine capacity of more than 2,000cc increased from 2.3 million in 1999 to 4.0 million in 2008, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.
The figures also showed that the number of licensed cars with engine capacity of less than 1,000cc has declined by 19 per cent over the same period.
The figures, part of the latest social trends publication from ONS, also revealed:
* Between 1989-1991 and 2008, the proportion of 5-10 year old children travelling to school by car has risen from 27 per cent to 43 per cent;
* In 2008, transport and travel costs accounted for 16 per cent of all household expenditure in the UK and this proportion has remained relatively stable since 1998/99;
* Between 1998/99 and 2008, the largest increase in motoring expenditure was on petrol, diesel and other oils - at 24 per cent - with expenditure rising 11 per cent between 2007 and 2008;
* In Britain in 2008, people took 992 total journeys - including walks - compared with 972 in 2007;
* Of the 992 journeys, more than 600 of them were either as a car or van driver or passenger;
* On average, each Briton took 27 rail journeys in 2008, compared with 25 in 2007 and only 19 for the period 1995 to 1997;
* The number of journeys made by local bus rose slightly in 2008/09 compared with 2007-08 but was still only around a third of the number made in 1955;
* Only 22 per cent of households had no car in 2008 compared with as many as 86 per cent in 1951;
* 7 per cent of households had three cars in 2008, while 27 per cent had two cars.
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