Trrl Lr 893

This report reviews the character of passenger travel by car in Great Britain using, in particular, results derived from the National Travel Survey 1975/76. Car passenger who travel in car belonging to another family account for as many passenger kilometres as all stage-carriage bus services. Car-poolers, who take it in turns to drive their own car and give lifts to others in the group, are only about 3 percent of those who drive a car to work. Most passangers in non-household cars are regular passangers (car-sharers) who do not have the option of driving themselves. The families of car-poolers appear to make little use of the car on the days it is left behind for use 0ff-pek, only about 10 km/week on average. Nor do they appear to make fewer off-peak bus trips than families where all the cars are taken to work. The report attempts to quantify the effects of a hypothetical 10 percent increase in pek period car occupancy. Net community benefits in excess of 100M pounds pa are estimated, with large savings in car travel and traffic congestion for increased car pooling, or in peak bus and rail provision if car-sharing increases. Though difficult to quantify, such an increase appears likely to occur only in extreme circumstances, particularly in the light of a trend for car occupancies to decrease