Weekly travel bill hits pounds 42

Britain today: Trends revealed in transport, traffic and getting away from it all

The average household spends pounds 42.81 a week on transport with more than half of this going on cars, says a report out today.

Households spent more than pounds 53bn on transport in 1994, with cars and taxis accounting for 95 per cent of this, says the British Roads Federation paper Road Fact 96. The report, sponsored by Shell Bitumen, also revealed:

Road users pay pounds 25bn a year in vehicle and fuel taxes but less than 25 per cent of this is spent on roads;

More than 60 per cent of the population old enough to drive hold a licence;

A figure of 92 per cent of inland freight is moved by road;

And traffic flows have risen 61 per cent on motorways and 21 per cent on trunk roads in the last 10 years.

"Road Fact 96 seeks to answer questions about road transport and give the facts behind BRF's calls for more money to be spent on providing quality roads," said Richard Diment, BRF chief executive.