Northern Ireland’s latest transport statistics revealed

The latest edition of the province’s Road and Rail Transport Statistics Quarterly Bulletin has revealed a five per cent increase in the number of new cars registered in Northern Ireland.

The publication, produced by the Central Statistics and Research Branch of the Department for Regional Development and contains information on new vehicle and car registrations; light goods and heavy goods registrations; vehicle and driving tests; use of public transport; and deliveries of petroleum for use in Northern Ireland.

Some of the key points revealed in the report, which covers the period July - September 2001, include the finding that 25 per cent – representing a figure of 4,778 - of all new cars registered for the first time were imported from the Republic of Ireland. In addition, Renault was the most popular make of new car, accounting for almost 13 per cent of all new cars registered during the quarter.

However, ‘Learner’ driving tests are down by 3 per cent compared to the same period in 2000-01, with the average pass rate for ‘L’ driving tests for males dropped from 57 per cent to 51 per cent and for females dropped from 49 per cent to 42 per cent.

There were 11.87 million public bus passenger journeys made during the quarter, a 15 per cent increase on the journeys made during the same quarter of last year.

Finally, 119,1891 tonnes of petroleum were delivered during the quarter, an increase of 17 per cent on the tonnage delivered during the corresponding quarter of 2000-01. (CL)