Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Car availability change in England and Wales 1971–1981

First results from the OPCS longitudinal study

  • Articles
  • Published:
Transportation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aggregate dynamics of car ownership have overshadowed the dynamics of car ownership and availability at the personal and household level. These dynamics have only recently been investigated in more depth. This paper contributes to this work by probing a special data source, theLongitudinal Study (LS) produced by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, for the changes in household car availability.

The paper describes the LS and explains its special format, as a Census-based ~1% sample of the population of England and Wales.

The analysis focuses on the car availability dynamics of a number of groups defined by changes in their life cycle position. Special attention is given to those households where the LS member remains a dependent child throughout the study period.

The results show that all studied household types increase and decrease their car holdings, but that there are patterns in this process, which vary from group to group. In particular, the size of the previous car fleet has a different influence on the current fleet size from life cycle group to life cycle group.

The paper argues in its conclusion to incorporate these differentials into the further work on car ownership and car ownership change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Axhausen KW (1992) Britische Panelstudien zum Verkehrsverhalten: Eine übersicht, report to the German Ministry of Transport, London.

  • Axhausen, KW (1993) Car availability change in England and Wales: First results from the OPCS Longitudinal Study, paper presented at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.

  • Ben Akiva ME, Manski CF & Sherman L (1981) A behavioural-approach model to modeling household motor-vehicle ownership and applications to aggregate policy analysis.Environment and Planning A 13: 399–411.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhat CR & Koppelman F (1993) An endogenous switching simultaneous equation system of employment, income and car ownership,Transportation Research 27A: 447–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong GC (1990) An indirect utility model of car ownership and private car use.European Economic Review 34: 971–985.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Transport (1982)Transport Statistics Great Britain 1972–1982. London: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Transport (1991)Transport Statistics Great Britain 1991. London: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallez C (1994) Identifying the long term dynamics of car ownership: A demographic approach.Transport Reviews 14: 83–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert CCS (1992) A duration model of automobile ownership.Transportation Research 26B: 97–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goulias KG & Kitamura R (1992) Travel demand forecasting with dynamic microsimulation.Transportation Research Record 1357: 8–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hensher DA, Barnard PO, Smith NC & Milthorpe FW (1989) Modelling the dynamics of car ownership and use: A methodological and empirical synthesis. In: International Association for Travel Behaviour (ed)Travel Behaviour Research (pp 141–173). Aldershot: Gower.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hensher DA & Le Piastrier V (1985) Towards a dynamic discrete-choice model of household automobile fleet size and composition. 19B: 481–496.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golob T & van Wissen L (1989) A joint household travel distance generation and car ownership model.Transportation Research 23B: 471–491.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin PB (1988) Circumstances in which people reduce car ownership: A comparative analysis of three panel data sets.IATSS Research 12: 60–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitamura R (1990) A causal-analysis of car ownership and transit use.Transportation 16: 155–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannering F & Winston C (1985) A dynamic empirical analysis of household vehicle ownership and utilization.Rand Journal of Economics 16: 215–236.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meurs H (1993) A panel-data switching regression model of mobility and car ownership.Transportation Research 27A: 461–476.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart A, Prandy K & Blackburn R (1980)Social Stratification and Occupations. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Social Statistics Research Unit (1990)OPCS Longitudinal Study: User Manual. London: City University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tait ARM (1993) The structure of the LS database under Model 204, presentation to a LS workshop, City University, London, February 1993.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Imperial College, University of London Centre for Transport Studies, SW7 2BU, London, UK

    Kay W. Axhausen

Authors
  1. Kay W. Axhausen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

“The work reported here was performed, while the author was a staff member of the Centre for Transport Studies, Imperial College, London.”

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Axhausen, K.W. Car availability change in England and Wales 1971–1981. Transportation 22, 151–164 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01099437

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01099437

Key words

Search

Navigation