Car traffic accounted for 48 per cent of motor vehicle traffic in 1950 but by 1999 it was 81 per cent of the total. Light van traffic fell from 15 per cent to 11 per cent over the same period, but was still the second highest category in 1999. The total licensed vehicle stock in Great Britain at the end of 1999 was estimated to be 28.4 million vehicles, of which about 85 per cent were cars. The price of petrol and oil in 2000 was around 20 per cent higher in real terms than in 1980. However, the real price of all motoring is still below its 1980 level.
Transport is a major consumer of energy.
In 1999 some 34 per cent of all UK energy consumption was used by transport. Transport Trends also contains a series of articles examining in detail current areas of interest in transport, and also methodological issues relating to the collection of transport statistics. The Government's 10 Year Plan for Transport was published in July 2000. It sets out a long-term programme of increased funding for transport, totalling 180 billion over 10 years. It comes into effect from April 2001.