Changes in personal travel patterns since 1975 were examined for Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Japan and USA. Only car, bus and rail were considered. There has been a continuous growth in the number of cars on the road in all markets with the fastest growth over the past 30 years in Spain and Japan. In all countries there is a clear patters of slowing of growth since 2000, suggesting that we may be reaching a level of saturation although the asymptote is currently varying from country to country. Passenger kilometres by car have typically doubled over the past 30 years with stronger growth in Spain following the rapid road building programme as the economy has developed there and in Italy. The increase in car use represents a real intensification of use rather than growth in population. Passenger km per head is broadly similar in the main European countries although Spain still lags behind despite the rapid growth in the past 30 years. Passenger km by bus is typically 5-10%of that by car and has been very static in most countries over the past 30 years, except in Italy and Spain where it has doubled. Bus usage per head is highest in Italy and Spain. Passenger usage of trains has grown in every country considered, ranging from nearly doubling in the Netherlands to a quarter increase in Germany and Japan. The car remains the dominant mode of surface motorised travel accounting for around 85% of passenger km, with bus and train accounting for about 7% each. In 1975 the corresponding figures were 80%, 12% and 8%.
Abstract