Forget about the economic crisis driving down car use

Published on Friday 17 October 2008 10:33

IT is a love affair that it seems may go on forever. Our devotion to our cars has grown and grown in recent years and – despite the credit crunch – is showing no signs yet of abating.

Record numbers of Scottish families now enjoy the convenience of owning at least two cars. Almost a quarter of households now have two cars or more, according to new Government statistics – up from just over 15 per cent in 1999.

The demands of juggling family life, work and leisure is just so much easier to achieve with two cars. So is there anything that is likely to get between us and our beloved motors?

The hopes of some in the green lobby that credit crunch-induced belt-tightening would lead to cars being ditched seem pretty unfounded.

Edinburgh City Car Club may have seen a 60 per cent jump from August to September in the number of new members signing up, as scores more drivers opt for hiring a club car for a few hours at a time. However, the stronger trend appears to be downgrading.

Sandy Burgess, president of the Scottish Motor Trade Association, says sales of new cars may be down, but used car sales are slightly up on last year.

"If I was a betting man, I would suggest that these figures would remain static.

"With the rise in two car families, some of it could be put down to affluence, but most of it is down to necessity and the change in lifestyles we lead," he says.

The City Car Club has signed up 130 new members in Edinburgh in a month, taking its membership to 2000. Car club spokesman Gary Bell said: "

No-one can get rid of their car completely, but they will look at their second car which might spend a lot of time sitting in the driveway."

But Bruce Young, Lothian and Borders co-ordinator of the Association of British Drivers, believes we shouldn't expect to see any considerable drop in the number of two car families any time soon.

"I don't know people who have a second car as an indulgence, it's more a case of if they need the cars, they need the cars," he says.

"I can't see the credit crunch having an impact unless people lose their jobs, because if they lose their jobs they won't need the car any more.

"But I would be surprised if unemployment increased to such an extent that it made a big impact on car ownership."

He says the reason why having two cars per family is essential for some people is simply because there is often no viable alternative.

While for many living in the Capital, with the excellent bus services, there is no real need to drive to work, it is undoubtedly far more convenient – and the demands of a hectic family life at the weekend have to be taken into account.

Mr Young says: "I live within six minutes of a bus stop, but where the bus stop is doesn't matter much, it's where the buses are going and how often that matters.

"For people who live outside Edinburgh and have to travel into work, there's just no way a bus could meet their requirements."

For anyone wanting to change the car ownership trend, the answer has to be about far more than putting on extra trains and buses.

Public transport usage is at an all-time high, with rail passenger numbers at their highest levels since the Second World War, and buses increasing in popularity.

And Edinburgh now has a number of park-and-ride sites that take some 6000 cars off the city streets every day.

But despite all this, the Lothians' roads have never been busier.

Mark Sydneham, spokesman for Friends of the Earth Edinburgh, agrees it will take significant changes in town planning and elsewhere before many of us are likely to see the sense in owning one less car.

"If more people are needing two cars, then it goes to show that public transport isn't as adequate as people would like us to believe.

"Some people have quite legitimate reasons for having two cars, so decent public transport is the only real solution.

"A lot of planning decisions also require us to have a car.

"Out of town shopping centres and supermarkets close shops in town so we are forced to have a car.

"I think we need to look at this in terms of town planning."