Mobility

The UK has a population of just over 60 million people. Being able to access employment, health, education and shopping opportunities is an essential requirement of everyone's everyday life.

80 per cent of people live in a household with a car and 70 per cent of adults have driving licences. Car use has grown and extended across the population over the past fifty years. When you take into account taxi use and lifts given by relatives and friends there are very few individuals who do not rely on the motor vehicles at some stage or another, including traditionally excluded groups such as those on lower incomes and older motorists.

People will go to great lengths to maintain their car ownership and use, with 80 per cent saying they would find it difficult to adjust to lifestyles without the car. The RAC Foundation believes the transport policy of any government is set within this context.