Size of the vehicle fleet

Assessment versions

Published (reviewed and quality assured)

• Size of the vehicle fleet (TERM 032) - Assessment published Jan 2011
• Size of the vehicle fleet (TERM 032) - Assessment published Jul 2010
• Size of the vehicle fleet (TERM 032) - Assessment published Nov 2008

Justification for indicator selection

Vehicle ownership and truck intensity are closely related to vehicle use, i.e. the vehicle fleet expands in response to the demand for increased mobility. The size of the vehicle fleet is therefore an important driving factor behind road passenger and freight transport demand and the environmental pressures they cause. Additionally, the total size of a vehicle fleet (combined with its average age - see TERM 33 - Average age of the vehicle fleet) also gives some indication on time needed for new technologies to penetrate into such fleets.

Scientific references:

• No rationale references available

Indicator definition

Vehicle ownership is defined as number of road vehicles (passenger cars and two-wheelers) per number of inhabitants. The indicator can be extended to include other specified by passenger transport modes (road busses, coaches, rail, maritime, air), although these are not privately owned.

Freight transport intensity is defined as number of vehicles per unit of GDP specified by freight transport mode (road, rail, inland, maritime).
The share of diesel cars in the entire passenger car fleet is defined as number of diesel vehicles per total number of passenger cars.

Units

Vehicle ownership is expressed in number of vehicles per 1 000 inhabitants. Freight transport intensity is expressed in number of heavy duty trucks per million Euro of GDP in constant 1995 prices. Dieselisation is expressed in percentage of diesel vehicles in the entire passenger car fleet.

Policy context and targets

Context description

The level of vehicle ownership is closely related to car use (and thus the volume of mobility) and - especially in urban areas - also to traffic congestion. Policies aiming at limiting the size and growth of the vehicle fleet might only be found in urban areas, where the number of motorised vehicles is related to increased traffic congestion and the associated higher concentration of air pollutants in the atmosphere.

Targets

There are no specific objectives or targets related to the size and composition of the vehicle fleet. Policy objectives are rather set with respect to the average age and to the environmental performance of the fleets.

Related policy documents

No related policy documents have been specified

Methodology

Methodology for indicator calculation

For passenger transport, vehicle ownership is calculated by dividing the total number of vehicles in each vehicle category (i.e. passenger cars, buses & coaches, two-wheelers, passenger trains) by the number of inhabitants in each country or country group. For freight transport, truck intensity is calculated by dividing the total number of trucks (i.e. light and heavy duty vehicles, freight trains) by the total GDP in each country or country group. The share of diesel passenger cars in the passenger car fleet is calculated by dividing the number of diesel passenger cars by total passenger car fleet.

Methodology for gap filling

Data gaps are filled either by interpolation, in case that data are missing in between reported data, or by using the first (or last) reported value.

Methodology references

• TREMOVE documentation Vehicle stock of passenger cars, light and heavy duty trucks, buses/coaches and two-wheelers, 1995-2010 are modelled data from TREMOVE v3.3.1.

Data specifications

EEA data references

• No datasets have been specified here.

External data references

• Population and GDP evolution (Eurostat)
• Vehicle stock of light and heavy duty trucks, 1995-2008
• Vehicle stock of passenger cars, buses/coaches and two-wheelers, 1995-2008

Data sources in latest figures

Uncertainties

Methodology uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified

Data sets uncertainty

The data are considered reliable as they are derived from official statistics (Eurostat).

Rationale uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified