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Driving licences and access to vehicles.
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1. Main facts and figures
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in every year between 2002/06 and 2011/15, White people were more likely to live in a household with access to a car or van than any other ethnic group
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Black people were more than twice as likely as White people to live in a household with no access to a car or van
Things you need to know
The National Travel Survey has been run in the same way from 2002/06 to 2011/15. This means there is a high level of consistency in the data.
To increase the reliability of the data, the information is collected over a series of overlapping 5-year periods. The average for each 5-year period is then calculated.
This type of survey methodology increases the reliability of the data. However, tests for significant differences between ethnic groups have not been carried out. Commentary has been supplied for those findings where there are relatively large differences between ethnic groups or modes of transport.
People from ethnic minority groups are more likely than White people to live in urban areas, where fewer people own and drive cars. (The 2011 Census found that 98% of Black and Asian people lived in urban areas, compared to 80% of White people.)
The data for ‘All ethnic groups’ includes people who did not give their ethnicity.
What the data measures
This data measures the percentage of people aged 17 and over in England living in households with no access to a car or van.
The data comes from the Department for Transport’s National Travel Survey.
The ethnic categories used in this data
For this data, the number of people surveyed (the ‘sample size’) was too small to draw any firm conclusions about specific ethnic categories. Therefore, the data is broken down into the following 5 broad groups:
- Asian/Asian British
- Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
- Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups
- White
- Other ethnic group
2. Car and van ownership by ethnicity
| Time | All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| 2002/06 | 19 | 23 | 40 | 39 | 18 | 36 |
| 2003/07 | 19 | 23 | 42 | 38 | 18 | 38 |
| 2004/08 | 19 | 22 | 42 | 35 | 18 | 38 |
| 2005/09 | 19 | 22 | 41 | 35 | 18 | 41 |
| 2006/10 | 19 | 22 | 41 | 33 | 18 | 38 |
| 2007/11 | 19 | 24 | 42 | 36 | 18 | 38 |
| 2008/12 | 20 | 25 | 42 | 36 | 18 | 40 |
| 2009/13 | 20 | 24 | 43 | 36 | 18 | 38 |
| 2010/14 | 20 | 24 | 43 | 36 | 18 | 34 |
| 2011/15 | 19 | 24 | 42 | 35 | 18 | 37 |
Download table data for ‘Car and van ownership by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Car and van ownership by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Car or van ownership Car and van ownership by ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
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between 2011 and 2015, an average of 19% of people aged 17 years and over in England didn’t have access to a car or van
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in this period, Black people were most likely to have no access to a car or van (at 42%), followed by people from the Other ethnic group (at 37%), people with Mixed ethnicity (at 35%), Asian people (at 24%), and White people (at 18%)
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the percentage of people in each ethnic group without access to a car or van remained broadly the same since 2002/06
3. Methodology
The denominators are the weighted number of people aged 17 and over in the NTS in each ethnic group. The numerators are the weighted number of people aged 17 and over in the NTS who lived in households with no access to a car or a van in each ethnic group.
The NTS data collection consists of a face-to-face interview and a 7-day self-completed written travel diary, allowing travel patterns to be linked with individual characteristics. The NTS covers travel by people in all age groups, including children.
In 2013, the survey coverage changed from sampling residents of England, Wales and Scotland, to residents of England only. Approximately 16,000 individuals, in 7,000 households in England, participate in the NTS each year.
Weighting:
Weighting is used to adjust the results of a survey to make them representative of the population and improve their accuracy.
For example, a survey which contains 25% women and 75% men will not accurately reflect the views of the general population, which has an even 50/50 split.
Statisticians rebalance or ‘weight’ the survey results to more accurately represent the general population. This helps to make them more reliable.
Survey weights are usually applied to make sure the survey sample has broadly the same gender, age, ethnic and geographic make up as the general population.
Responses to the NTS are weighted to take account of different population demographics, but are not grossed to England totals. They’re also weighted to take into account people who didn’t respond or didn’t complete their travel diary in full.
Statistics from the NTS were assessed during 2010 by the UK Statistics Authority. An assessment report (PDF opens in a new window or tab) (PDF) was published in October 2010. The statistics were confirmed as National Statistics in July 2011.
Suppression rules and disclosure control
Values of fewer than 100 people or 300 trips (before weighting is applied) have been suppressed. ‘Suppression’ means the figures have not been included in the data, because the numbers involved are too small to draw any meaningful conclusions.
For example, in the latest 5-year period, there were only around 700 and 900 individuals in the 'Mixed' and 'Other' ethnic groups respectively, so the data does not support further detailed breakdowns as these estimates would be unreliable.
Where the size of the ethnic group population is small enough that an individual’s identity could be revealed, some other figures have also been excluded.
Rounding
Figures are rounded to the nearest whole percentage. The percentages calculated in the tables are based on unrounded figures.
Related publications
Previous National Travel Survey reports are available.
Quality and methodology information
4. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Transport
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The National Travel Survey (NTS) is a household survey designed to monitor long-term trends in personal travel and to inform the development of policy.
It is the primary source of data on personal travel patterns within England, Scotland and Wales by residents of England.
The survey collects information on how, why, when and where people travel as well as factors affecting travel (for example, car availability and whether people hold driving licences).
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, value, denominator, numerator