TAPAS.network | 29 April 2022 | Commentary | John Siraut

Cars, trains, buses and flights: How much do we all spend on transport?

Some fascinating figures are revealed by a look at the transport elements of the ONS weekly Household Spending survey- both the balance of different modal categories, and the change over time. John Siraut here examines the data, and what it tells us about the differences across incomes and age distribution.

THE OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS household spending survey provides a detailed snapshot of our spending habits. Figure 1 shows total weekly spending on transport over the last 20 years and as a percentage of total spending. Over that 20-year period, total household expenditure has remained relatively stable. However, the amount spent on transport declined steadily, mainly due to the reducing cost of cars, from nearly £100 a week at the beginning of the Millennium, reaching a low point in 2012 of £71.70. It has risen since then but remains about 20% below its peak. As a percentage of total household spending it has fallen from a high of 17% in 2001 down to 14% now.

Figure 1: Household expenditure on transport in 2019-20 prices.

As figure 2 shows, motor fuel accounts for the largest proportion of weekly transport spending (24%), followed by the purchase of second-hand cars at (18%) which is perhaps surprisingly around twice as much as is spent on the purchase of new cars. Vehicle insurance is also a significant cost, accounting for 12% of transport spend. Public transport on the other hand comes out at just 8% of weekly total transport spending.

Figure 2: Transport spend by category

The average household spend data hides a number of variations when income and age are taken into consideration. Figure 3 shows the percentage of household transport budget spent on; car purchase, fuel, rail and bus fares by household income decile. There are some clear and not surprising trends in the data in relation to public transport. Lower income households spend a higher proportion of their transport budgets on buses, although at just 4% it is still very low. This proportion falls to just 1% for the highest income group. While the proportion of household income spent on rail fares starts to fall as income rises but then rises steeply for the highest income households. However, in aggregate the proportion of household spending on public transport for the highest income households, at 8%, is broadly the same as the lowest income ones. With regard to motoring costs, the highest income groups while spending the highest in absolute terms on purchasing vehicles, as a percentage of total transport expenditure they spend the least. For them, fuel costs which account for over 30% of their transport costs is the largest single item. It is notable that higher income households spend more on fuel than car purchase while for lower income households it tends to be the other way round.

Figure 3: Proportion of household transport budget spent on vehicle purchase, fuel, bus and rail fares by household income decile.

The spending patterns based on age are different again. As table 4 shows, the under 30s spend a higher proportion (and in absolute terms) of their transport budget on public transport, especially rail fares. Vehicle insurance is also a higher cost for this age group than all other age groups.

Motoring expenditure mainly relates to the purchase of vehicles except for the oldest and youngest age groups where fuel accounts for more of their budget.

Figure 4: Proportion of household transport budget spent on vehicle purchase, fuel, bus and rail fares by age of household reference person.

The average household now spends more on air fares (excluding the air fare component of package holidays) than on public transport. Whilst motoring costs account for the vast majority of all households’ transport budgets regardless of income or age.

Statistics available from the ONS Data Set Family spending workbook 1: detailed expenditure and trends.

John Siraut is director of economics at Jacobs.

This article was first published in LTT magazine, LTT844, 29 April 2022.

d5-20220429

taster

Read more articles by John Siraut

National TSGB and London Travel data annuals underline changing patterns of transport use

New transport and travel data is emerging all the time, but it is useful to occasionally take stock of all the available material to tease out overall patterns and trends. Publication of the two annual compendiums Transport Statistics Great Britain and Travel in London at the end of the year provided such an opportunity for John Siraut.

3 February 2025

Buses: data reveals an unstable and challenging landscape

Tracking bus use has been a significant part of monitoring the impacts of the pandemic, but also the continuing long-term decline in the sector. John Siraut examines the latest annual bus statistics and finds a number of significant regional and local differences, including in the levels of dependence on public funding. He also looks at the amount of concessionary bus travel, the change in fare levels and in drivers wages over the last twenty years.

6 March 2023

Buses: data reveals an unstable and challenging landscape

Tracking bus use has been a significant part of monitoring the impacts of the pandemic, but also the continuing long-term decline in the sector. John Siraut examines the latest annual bus statistics and finds a number of significant regional and local differences, including in the levels of dependence on public funding. He also looks at the amount of concessionary bus travel, the change in fare levels and in drivers wages over the last twenty years.

6 March 2023

Read more articles on TAPAS

Putting Local decision-making in its proper Place

WITH LOCAL ELECTIONS about to take place, it would be nice to think that relevant transport issues affecting particular places and council areas would be suitably under the spotlight; and forming at least a part of citizens’ considerations for whom they should cast their vote. But, sadly, such local polls are invariably seen as an opportunity to pass judgement on the performance of the political parties at a national level, on issues that particular authorities are actually in no real position to do much about.

Peter Stonham | 29 April 2022

Is changing fares the route to more public transport use and modal shift?

Would more people choose bus and rail travel if lower fares were charged? And is it the absolute level of fares which is significant, or their relative levels compared with the cost of car use? Perhaps the nature of the tariff structure, the method of payment for individual journeys or the opportunities for daily or period single-area or system-wide ‘freedom passes’ or discount deals is a significant factor in making bus and rail use more attractive? This multi-authored TAPAS article looks at the available evidence, and some recent new pricing initiatives

Multi-Authored | 6 June 2023

Sidewalk stories from the Big Apple. What makes a city special - and worth fighting for

Looking at other countries, cities and cultures can teach us a lot, and give us a new lens through which to examine how we live and work ourselves, says John Dales. Just back from the USA he reflects on some of the forces that shaped New York, and the dangers of chasing future visions that miss the fundamentals of what really matters.

John Dales | 23 April 2024