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

How does the public view the deployment of new technology in transport?

Emerging new technologies could significantly reshape the transport landscape in coming years – but are the travelling public ready to embrace their adoption? The Department for Transport conducts a regular technology tracker attitudes survey and John Siraut takes a look at its findings and what they tell us.

15 May 2025

Latest National Travel Survey reveals significant shifts in how and why we move around

Ongoing changes in the patterns of travel behaviour in England are indicated in the release of the 2024 National Travel Survey results, recently published. Year-on-year differences may be small, but they are significant, says John Siraut who has dug into the data.

30 October 2025

Post-Pandemic travel patterns show some change – but commitment to the car remains strong

Significant changes in travel behaviour followed the arrival of the COVID 19 pandemic, and transport professionals have faced the challenge of determining how long term and stable they will be when adjusting their forecasts and approaches to planning for future demand. New survey results just published give some indications of the way the patterns are evolving – and what people think about their travel choices. John Siraut examines the data, and provides some thoughts on the key messages.

1 August 2023

Read more articles on TAPAS

Change in the Air?

AIR TRANSPORT is generally regarded as no Friend of the Planet. On both carbon consumption and emissions grounds, with noise and the impacts of airports thrown in, it is a clear target for Climate Change and sustainability campaigners. But might there be a better flight path ahead - and could air travel potentially out-green the surface modes of road, and even rail, in some domestic situations?

Peter Stonham | 28 January 2022

Rowing Backwards: The New Politics of Decarbonisation

There has been a substantial reaction to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s policy changes to the Government’s approach to achieving Net Zero, most specifically the commitment to end fossil fuel car sales in 2030, extending the deadline to 2035. But he also sought to present a different way of thinking about the broader policies on the trajectory to the 2050 Net Zero deadline. TAPAS asked Professor Greg Marsden to comment on the implications.

Greg Marsden | 4 October 2023

Are we closer to a new approach to transport’s role in development?

Earlier this month the second annual LTT event looking at the relationship between transport and development took place. Colin Black looks at the key themes considered at the event, and how he sees the prospects for a genuine change of direction that will move us away from in-built car dependency.

Colin Black | 18 December 2025