9208.0 - Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia, Oct 2004  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/09/2006   
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Review of 2003 Survey of Motor Vehicles Use Estimates

The purpose of this paper is to provide users with the results of an investigation into the impact of stratification changes that took place between the conduct of the 2003 and 2004 Surveys of Motor Vehicle Use (SMVU).

In releasing the 2004 SMVU estimates, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) identified that the stratification change, introduced as part of the 2004 sample design, may have caused some concerns with the coherence of the 2003 estimates. As a result, the ABS decided not to publish the 2003 estimates in the 2004 publication and indicated to users that an investigation would occur and advise of the outcome at a later date.

Following a comprehensive review of the survey's methodology, new stratums were introduced for the 2004 survey to improve the quality of the survey outputs. The main difference between the stratification used in 2004 and that used in 2003 was that more emphasis was placed on age of vehicle in 2004. Area of operation was dropped as a stratification variable for all vehicle types.

To investigate concerns regarding coherence, the ABS compiled new estimates from the 2003 reference year survey data using the stratification groups applied to the 2004 reference year.

A comparison of the two sets of estimates was undertaken. The differences were small and did not indicate any systemic quality concern with the 2003 stratification and estimation process. For example, the original estimate for total kilometres travelled for all vehicles was 201,497 million and the estimate following post-stratification was 200,076 million, a difference of 0.7%. For this reason, the ABS does not consider it necessary to re-release the 2003 SMVU estimates. The official 2003 estimates are those contained in the publication Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia, 2003 (cat. no. 9208.0).

For the information of users, the following summary tables present the 2003 post-stratified estimates.

Table 1: Summary of Motor Vehicle Use, Type of Vehicle
2000
2001
2002
2003(a)
2004

Total kilometres travelled (million)
Passenger vehicles
141 519
143 925
144 676
150 505
147 728
Motor cycles
1 135
1 448
1 681
1 371
1 478
Light commercial vehicles
27 829
30 728
31 349
32 670
34 007
Rigid trucks
6 536
6 627
7 080
7 730
7 639
Articulated trucks
5 578
5 321
5 425
5 716
6 013
Non-freight carrying trucks
^220
^267
224
202
221
Buses
1 776
1 835
1 775
1 882
1 968
Total
184 593
190 152
192 209
200 076
199 055

Number of vehicles(b) (number)
Passenger vehicles
9 711 320
9 861 807
10 194 637
10 393 312
10 654 328
Motor cycles
337 793
349 465
367 258
378 631
392 648
Light commercial vehicles
1 696 631
1 719 654
1 810 071
1 896 498
1 940 180
Rigid trucks
346 628
332 102
341 651
346 380
358 704
Articulated trucks
61 117
61 502
61 519
62 888
66 197
Non-freight carrying trucks
18 714
18 980
17 504
17 837
17 616
Buses
55 805
55 078
56 754
59 819
61 728
Total
12 228 008
12 398 588
12 849 393
13 155 365
13 491 401

Average kilometres travelled(c) ('000)
Passenger vehicles
14.6
14.6
14.2
14.5
13.9
Motor cycles
3.4
4.1
4.6
3.6
3.8
Light commercial vehicles
16.4
17.9
17.3
17.2
17.5
Rigid trucks
18.9
20.0
20.7
22.3
21.3
Articulated trucks
91.3
86.5
88.2
90.9
90.8
Non-freight carrying trucks
^11.8
14.1
12.8
11.3
12.5
Buses
31.8
33.3
31.3
31.5
31.9
Total
15.1
15.3
15.0
15.2
14.8

Total fuel consumption (million litres)
Passenger vehicles
16 838
16 436
16 401
17 195
16 937
Motor cycles
70
83
100
83
^92
Light commercial vehicles
3 723
4 186
4 145
4 271
4 471
Rigid trucks
1 795
1 855
2 041
2 183
2 123
Articulated trucks
2 904
2 824
2 922
3 091
3 305
Non-freight carrying trucks
^57
67
58
52
53
Buses
466
498
497
517
524
Total
25 853
25 948
26 164
27 391
27 505

Average rate of fuel consumption(d) (litres per 100 kilometres)
Passenger vehicles
11.9
11.4
11.3
11.4
11.5
Motor cycles
6.1
5.7
6.0
6.1
6.3
Light commercial vehicles
13.4
13.6
13.2
13.1
13.1
Rigid trucks
27.5
28.0
28.8
28.2
27.8
Articulated trucks
52.1
53.1
53.9
54.1
55.0
Non-freight carrying trucks
25.9
25.0
26.0
25.7
24.0
Buses
26.2
27.1
28.0
27.5
26.6
Total
14.0
13.6
13.6
13.7
13.8

^ Estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution.
(a) Post-stratified estimates. For official estimates refer to Survey of Motor Vehicle Use October 2003 Cat no. 9208.0.
(b) The average number of vehicles registered for the 12 months. Includes registered vehicles that did not travel during the reference period.
(c) Calculated using average number of registered vehicles. Includes registered vehicles that did not travel during the reference period.
(d) Calculated using the total fuel consumption divided by the total kilometres travelled.
Table 2: Summary of Freight Vehicle Use, Type of Vehicle
2000
2001
2002
2003(a)
2004

Total laden business kilometres travelled (million)
Light commercial vehicles
13 120
13 889
14 054
15 326
15 844
Rigid trucks
4 537
4 690
4 830
5 387
5 322
Articulated trucks
4 071
3 933
4 012
4 298
4 367
Total freight vehicles
21 728
22 512
22 896
25 011
25 533

Average laden business kilometres travelled(b) ('000)
Light commercial vehicles
14.7
15.3
14.0
14.8
14.4
Rigid trucks
16.1
16.3
16.2
17.5
16.8
Articulated trucks
72.8
69.6
70.4
74.5
71.4
Total freight vehicles
17.7
18.0
16.8
17.9
17.2

Total tonne-kilometres travelled (million)
Light commercial vehicles
5 695
5 649
5 624
6 701
6 634
Rigid trucks
25 168
24 881
28 337
30 572
29 752
Articulated trucks
103 515
101 892
106 977
112 423
121 282
Total freight vehicles
134 378
132 422
140 938
149 695
157 668

Average tonne-kilometres travelled(c) (million)
Light commercial vehicles
6.4
6.2
5.6
6.5
6.0
Rigid trucks
89.1
86.5
95.1
99.5
93.7
Articulated trucks
1 852.0
1 804.4
1 876.3
1 947.7
1 983.3
Total freight vehicles
109.3
105.8
103.5
107.0
106.4

Total tonnes carried (million)
Light commercial vehicles
103
103
115
122
120
Rigid trucks
711
683
802
712
807
Articulated trucks
655
697
747
714
769
Total freight vehicles
1 469
1 482
1 664
1 548
1 696

Average load carried per trip(d) (kilograms)

Light commercial vehicles
377
326
353
399
362
Rigid trucks
5 854
5 632
6 130
5 835
6 068
Articulated trucks
22 615
23 639
23 749
24 497
23 921
Total freight vehicles
3 471
3 180
3 404
4 566
3 421

(a) Post-stratified estimates. For official estimates refer to Survey of Motor Vehicle Use October 2003 Cat no. 9208.0.
(b) Calculated using the total laden business kilometres travelled divided by the number of vehicles that travelled laden business kilometres.
(c) Calculated using the total tonne-kilometres travelled divided by the number of vehicles that travelled tonne-kilometres.
(d) Calculated using the total load carried divided by the total number of laden trips.

Table 3: Summary of Motor Vehicle Use, State/Territory of Registration
2000
2001
2002
2003(a)
2004

Total kilometres travelled (million)
New South Wales
51 088
58 553
60 792
61 876
58 875
Victoria
54 500
50 817
51 459
55 314
52 583
Queensland
36 746
38 538
36 690
37 944
41 643
South Australia
13 153
15 085
14 855
14 858
15 241
Western Australia
19 875
18 610
19 160
20 882
21 324
Tasmania
4 376
3 979
4 433
4 574
4 561
Northern Territory
1 627
1 522
1 712
1 560
1 594
Australian Capital Territory
3 228
3 048
3 108
3 067
3 234
Australia
184 593
190 152
192 209
200 076
199 055

Number of vehicles(b) (number)
New South Wales
3 663 210
3 745 732
3 859 620
3 942 136
4 059 983
Victoria
3 232 708
3 235 515
3 442 573
3 515 441
3 538 822
Queensland
2 340 267
2 365 530
2 459 307
2 530 630
2 665 200
South Australia
1 021 386
1 051 115
1 051 720
1 072 877
1 082 691
Western Australia
1 340 533
1 365 714
1 392 316
1 446 038
1 471 497
Tasmania
332 110
329 963
334 259
334 882
350 976
Northern Territory
102 846
101 159
103 155
103 524
106 651
Australian Capital Territory
194 948
203 859
206 444
209 838
215 581
Australia
12 228 008
12 398 588
12 849 393
13 155 365
13 491 401

Average kilometres travelled(c) ('000)
New South Wales
13.9
15.6
15.8
15.7
14.5
Victoria
16.9
15.7
14.9
15.7
14.9
Queensland
15.7
16.3
14.9
15.0
15.6
South Australia
12.9
14.4
14.1
13.8
14.1
Western Australia
14.8
13.6
13.8
14.4
14.5
Tasmania
13.2
12.1
13.3
13.7
13.0
Northern Territory
15.8
15.0
16.6
15.1
14.9
Australian Capital Territory
16.6
15.0
15.1
14.6
15.0
Australia
15.1
15.3
15.0
15.2
14.8

(a) Post-stratified estimates. For official estimates refer to Survey of Motor Vehicle Use October 2003 Cat no. 9208.0.
(b) The average number of vehicles registered for the 12 months. Includes registered vehicles that did not travel during the reference period.
(c) Calculated using the total kilometres travelled divided by the average number of registered vehicles. Includes registered vehicles that did not travel during the reference period.