Car ownership continues to rise in Fife
Entire communities are facing little choice but to use a car, according to the RAC, which says drivers feel public transport "simply isn't practical or doesn't meet their needs" in many areas of the country.
Figures from the Department for Transport reveal there were 180,597 car registrations for addresses in Fife in June this year.
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Hide AdThat number is up from 164,452 in 2010 - an increase of 10%.
It means there is one car for every 1.7 adults – the same as the average for Britain..
The rise of cars in Fife reflects the national picture which has also seen increases in local authority areas with the highest proportions of deprived neighbourhoods.
Across Britain, car ownership has risen 11% from 2010.
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Hide AdRAC’s Report on Motoring this year found 68% of people said a car was essential for shopping and 59% for meeting with friends and family elsewhere in the country.
Spokesman Rod Dennis said: “Even before the pandemic, drivers told us they were becoming more, not less reliant on their cars.
"It’s easy to see why. As well as the obvious benefits a car brings for families in particular, many drivers have felt for a long time that public transport either simply isn’t practical or doesn’t meet their needs, with services often seen as too expensive and running too infrequently.
"This is particularly the case outside larger towns where entire communities often have little choice but to use a car.”