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Transport VKT
Total distance travelled (total vehicle kilometres travelled)
The total distance travelled on New Zealand roads in a given year helps us measure the pressure road transport puts on the environment.
Current situation
In 2007, the total distance travelled on New Zealand roads by all types of vehicle was 40.2 billion kilometres. This equals travelling from the Earth to the Sun and back 135 times.
Long-term trend
Total vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) on New Zealand roads increased by 12 per cent between 2001 and 2007, and approximately 55 per cent between 1990 and 2007. There has been a steady increase since 1992, with the exception of 2006. This continues a long-term trend of increasing VKT on New Zealand roads – between 1980 and 2000 it more than doubled.
Total vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) in New Zealand, 1990–2007
Note: The gap in the trend line indicates that data was collected differently before 2001. Total vehicle kilometres travelled before 2001 cannot be directly compared with data collected after 2001. However, it provides an estimate of the earlier trend.
Data source: Ministry of Transport.
View data (including text description) for above graph
Recent trend
From 2004, growth in the total distance travelled slowed and in 2006, slightly decreased. This was probably in response to rising fuel prices over that period, which peaked in mid-2006.
In 2007, the distance travelled on New Zealand roads again increased – by 2.6 per cent or 1.01 billion vehicle kilometres. The 2007 growth rate is more consistent with earlier years and suggests the mid-2006 peak in fuel prices did temporarily change travel behaviour. However, when the same prices were reached in the second half of 2007, this did not lead to a drop in VKT. This suggests that the higher prices had become normalised.
Want to know more about the effect of fuel prices?
The case study Are fuel prices changing the way we travel? has information on the effect of fuel prices on vehicle use and travel behaviour.
Influences on VKT
An increase in VKT can be due to several factors – more people, more vehicles in the fleet and more individual travel. These three factors have combined to steadily increase total VKT in New Zealand in recent years. Put simply, there are more of us, an increasing number of us own vehicles and we each drive greater distances on average than in the past.
Population, total number of vehicles and VKT in New Zealand, 2001–2007
More reasons for an increase in VKT (including text description of above graph)
Data source: Ministry of Transport.
International comparison
VKT per person
The latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) comparison (2002) shows that New Zealand had the second highest VKT per person within the OECD, ranking us 29th out of 30. Each New Zealander averaged 11,200 kilometres of travel over the year. This is partially due to our comparatively small population distributed across a relatively large land area.
The most comparable OECD countries, in terms of population density and total population, are Norway and Finland. In 2002, the VKT per person of both countries was less than New Zealand’s. Finland was ranked 26th with 9400 VKT per person, while Norway was ranked 12th with a VKT per person of 7300. To provide a sense of New Zealand’s performance, also shown are the three best and worst performers for VKT in the OECD, and Australia, our nearest OECD neighbour.
VKT per person for selected OECD countries, 2002
View data (including text description) for above graph
Data source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
VKT per GDP dollar
The latest OECD comparison (2002) shows that New Zealand had the highest VKT per unit of GDP in the OECD.
Vehicles per person
In terms of vehicle ownership per person, New Zealand also ranks highly in the OECD. The latest OECD comparison (2006) shows New Zealand ranks third amongst OECD countries, with 74 road vehicles per 100 people. Topping the list is Portugal with 78 vehicles per 100 people, followed by the United States with 76.
What can you do?
- Help lower air pollution, fuel use and traffic congestion by leaving your car at home, especially for short trips – car engines use 20 per cent more fuel and produce up to 20 times the exhaust emissions when cold.
- Taking public transport and sharing car trips can save you money on fuel and reduce your carbon dioxide emissions.
- Walking and cycling are ideally suited to short trips. It is good exercise and can save you money.
- Look out for walking school buses in your community to give your children a safe, sustainable way to travel to school.
This information has come from the environmental report card on vehicle kilometres travelled by road.
Move to next variable reported on for VKT: types of vehicles travelling.
Last updated: March 2009
