Licensed Motor Vehicles in Lancashire
2004

Introduction

Information on licensed vehicles is produced annually by the Department for Transport (DfT) based on administrative records held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The latest figures provide a snapshot of the levels of vehicle ownership at 30 June 2004. The dataset includes details of the year of vehicle registration, geographic information about the vehicle keeper and specific details about the vehicle type. Motorcycles are detailed in a separate total but it should be noted that these counts are included in the totals for both private and company vehicles.

The dataset only includes vehicles currently registered with the DVLA, whether they are in use or not. Therefore vehicles untaxed and being used illegally (about 1.8 million such vehicles in England and Wales were detailed in the 2002 Vehicle Evasion Duty Survey) are excluded. Vehicles registered but not currently in use (e.g. held by second hand car dealers) are included in the dataset, but the numbers are thought to be negligible.

The dataset includes only certain vehicle types (cars, motorcycles, scooters and mopeds, tricycles and light vans) as other vehicle types are unlikely to be used for private transport by households. Some vehicles are exempt from having to pay excise duty (e.g. where the keeper of the vehicle is registered disabled) although these still have to be recorded by the DVLA and hence are included as being registered with a 'nil' payment due.

Vehicle Ownership in Lancashire

In 2004 there were nearly 679,400 licensed motor vehicles in the Lancashire NUTS-2 sub-region, equivalent to 2.7% of the England and Wales total or 22.2% of those across the North West Region (Table 1). To give this figure a sense of perspective, it is the equivalent of 82 vehicles for every kilometre of major and minor road in the sub-region. Over the four-year period 2001-04 the number of vehicles in Lancashire continued to rise rapidly by 9.4%. This rate was above the England and Wales average and was roughly equivalent to the net addition of 14,600 vehicles each year.

In terms of their distribution, total numbers of licensed vehicles in 2004 range from a high of nearly 63,000 in Lancaster to fewer than 32,500 in Ribble Valley. However, expressing the distribution more meaningfully in terms of rates per 1,000 population, vehicle ownership is highest in Ribble Valley (581 vehicles per 1,000 population, or a fifth above the England and Wales average) and lowest in Blackburn with just 396 per thousand (17% below the national average) – Figure 1. Generally speaking, the highest rates of vehicle ownership are to be found, not unexpectedly, in the more affluent 'rural' districts and those with relatively high levels of outward commuting. Above-average numbers of households in such areas enjoy multiple car ownership. Conversely, the larger urban areas, where typically a third or more of households do not have a car or van, have much lower rates of vehicle ownership. (See the Lancashire County Area Profile on Transport for details of 2001 Census estimates of household car and van ownership). Generally speaking, these same larger urban areas also had the lowest rates of increase in vehicle ownership over the 2001-04 period.

The vehicles database distinguishes between those vehicles that are currently registered to a private individual and those that are registered to a company. Overall, more than 95% of all licensed vehicles in Lancashire are registered to private owners, a share more-or-less on a par with the England and Wales average. There is also very little variation locally between Lancashire districts with privately registered vehicle shares ranging from 94.5% in Pendle to a high of 96.4% in Blackpool. Between 2001 and 2004 the number of company registered vehicles fell by about 1,100 or by -3.4% reducing their share of the total vehicle stock over the period from 5.2% to 4.6%.

Motorcycles, though included within the 'total vehicles' count are also identified separately (Table 2). In 2004 there were 28,880 registered motorcycles in the Lancashire sub-region, equivalent to 4.3% of the total vehicle stock compared with a share of 4.4% in England and Wales and a rather lower proportion of 3.7% in the North West. Locally motorcycles accounted for a high of 5.9% of the vehicle stock in South Ribble and 5.1% in Lancaster but just 3.5% in Burnley. Between 2001 and 2004 the growth in registered motorcycles was proportionately greater than other vehicles, rising by nearly a quarter across the sub-region (and by 37% in South Ribble), such growth probably reflecting in part a response to increased traffic congestion but also an increased popularity of motorcycles for leisure purposes.

Licensed Vehicles by Age

The age of the vehicle stock by broad age bands is a further variable identified in the licensed vehicles database. In 2004, 25.6% of all registered vehicles in Lancashire were between 0-3 years, a level perhaps somewhat surprisingly, above the England and Wales average of 24.0%, though slightly below that of the wider North West Region. Car ownership is closely associated with income levels. Whilst Lancashire has average household incomes generally well below those nationally, the local area enjoys lower living costs, particularly in such areas as housing and such higher rates of new vehicle ownership may simply reflect above-par levels of disposable or discretionary income. Within the sub-region the proportion of vehicles 0-3 years in age ranged from a low of 22% in Blackpool to as high as 31% in Ribble Valley (Table 3). Registered vehicles of more than 10years age made up 27.3% of all vehicles in Lancashire – again presenting a favourable position relative to the national average and with the same two local districts occupying contrary positions.

Looking at vehicles ages over the period 2001-2004, England and Wales registered a 13.5% increase in the number of 0-3 year old vehicles, raising their share of the total from 23% in 2001 to 24% in 2004, but a 3.1% decrease in the number of vehicles of 10+ years old (from 32.8% in 2001 to 29.3% in 2004). In the case of Lancashire NUTS-2 the area had an 18.4% increase in the number of 0-3 year old vehicles, their share rising from 23.7% to 25.6% by 2004. The number of vehicles aged 10+years locally fell by 2.0% over the same period reducing their share of the total from 31,1% to 27.9%.

Motor vehicles make a significant contribution to carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, believed to be a significant greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Additionally, and especially in urban areas, road transport is also one of the major sources of other emissions which are harmful to human health. In both cases, the emissions are disproportionately concentrated amongst the older vehicles. The reduced number and share of older registered vehicles may therefore be regarded as a positive environmental contribution.

Much greater variations in vehicle age across Lancashire are evident at ward level (see maps and tables below) with, in some instances, 0-3 year old vehicles comprising more than 37% of the total vehicle stock in the area. Contrarily, in the case of the older 10+ years vehicle age group there were many wards where this group comprised in excess of 40% of the vehicle stock. Typically, wards with a high proportion of newer cars are found in a broad swath of fairly affluent commuter territory across large areas of rural East Lancashire and areas abutting Greater Manchester together with other dormitory areas surrounding the Preston/Central Lancashire urban area. Conversely, areas with high proportions of older vehicles are concentrated quite markedly within the larger urban areas, typically in the same wards that also score poorly in terms of unemployment, household incomes and other measures of deprivation.