Less cars, more audience

The bliss of less traffic over the holiday season, we have all experienced it.

Government traffic counts tell us that from early December through to January, traffic volumes on roads are typically around 15% lower than the yearly average. But why, if there are less cars on the road, are we still battling crowds and queues when out shopping, at the beach or eating in restaurants and cafes? How did they get there if traffic volumes are down?

The answer is in how we travel. Fewer vehicles doesn’t mean fewer eyeballs.

The private vehicle is our dominant mode of travel, accounting for two thirds of our mode choice (68.1% of trips). When we’re not travelling for work there are more people in our cars. When the reason for the trip changes, so does the number of people per vehicle. On average there is 1.45 people per vehicle according to government household travel surveys. This ranges from a low of 1.11 people per vehicle for the work commute, up to 2.35 people for education trips (mum and dad taxi services), and MOVE data shows that passengers are more likely to see Out -of -Home advertising.

The NSW Transport Data Centre reports that when work trips are removed, the average for all other trips combined is 1.66. If we also compare the weekday to weekends occupancy, to see how less people at work or school affects occupancy, we see single occupant vehicle trips decline from 67% of the days to travel during weekdays, to just 51% on the weekends.

So, remember, whilst the number of vehicles around us may seem less in summer, there are more eyeballs in those vehicles! Better for the environment and better for advertisers!