Size of the vehicle fleet

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The level of car ownership is rising rapidly, especially in countries with relatively low car ownership levels. In the EU, the number of cars grew from 393 to 460 cars per 1.000 inhabitants between 1990 and 1999. Motorcycle ownership is also increasing. Higher private vehicle ownership has proven to lead to more usage of private vehicles and might have the opposite effect on public transport usage.

In the ACs, car ownership is also growing rapidly. The number of cars per capita grew from 146 to 223 cars per 1.000 inhabitants between 1990 and 1998 in the ACs (excluding Turkey). However, car ownership in the ACs was still about a third up to a half of that of the EU in 1998. Increasing private vehicle ownership has proven to lead to more usage of private vehicles and might have the opposite effect on public transport usage. The number of trucks is strongly related to economic development. Per unit of GDP it more or less remained stable, resulting in a 50 % increase in the last decade.