About this project
This project will unlock access to an annually updated data resource that tracks make/model, mileage, emissions and registered location of all registered cars and vans in Great Britain throughout their lifetime. In doing so, it will provide capacity for scientific and public policy analysis, diagnosis and monitoring of this wide range of vital societal challenges that stem from the adoption and use of light duty motor vehicles.
Project background
Passenger cars and vans make a significant and stubborn contribution to air pollution and climate change as well as vital agendas relating to social inclusion, road safety, health and well-being, congestion, place-making and the expansion of the energy system to accommodate electrification of the transport sector.
The data produced will allow issues and trends to be examined at the national ‘macro’ level as well as provide local and regional authorities with a transformative resource to track the evolution and use of their vehicle fleets to design and evaluate place-based interventions.
Project aims and objectives
This project will provide an annually updatable longitudinal dataset (dating back to ~2006/7) of the characteristics, location, annual mileage and associated emissions of every light-duty vehicle (cars and vans < 3.5 tonnes) in GB, which can be used at national and local levels to support sustainable transport policy design and implementation. It will do this by linking and opening up two data-sets related to the registration and usage patterns of these vehicles:
1. “Registration data”: the DVLA’s vehicle licensing procedures generate vehicle stock tables, compiled for about 40 million vehicles each quarter, which record the location of the registered keeper through the vehicle’s lifetime as well as numerous vehicle attributes. The Department for Transport (DfT) receives this data quarterly and publishes aggregated vehicle licencing statistics with a very limited number of vehicle characteristics.
2. “MOT data”: since 2006, the DVSA has digitally recorded the make, model, age, engine type and odometer reading of every vehicle taking an annual road worthiness (‘MOT’) test in GB. Approximately 30 million tests and 50 million associated items are added each year. This data has been on public release since late 2010 but the database only includes a vehicle once it has its first test (usually after three years) and so it is only a partial record of all vehicles. The data on public release also does not include the location of the registered keeper. The creation of annual mileages for each vehicle from the odometer reading supplied in the MOT data is computationally complex and forms a core part of our work to date.
Project partners
This project is being delivered by University of Leeds and University of Bristol, with support from the RAC Foundation. It is being funded by ADR UK.
For more information
To receive further updates about this project please visit: https://cars-project.github.io/