Passenger cars drove over 22 billion kilometres in Norway in 1995. In addition, Norwegians drove nearly 500 million kilometres - 2.3 per cent of the total vehicle kilometres - in connection with trips abroad. Measured in person kilometres, private car traffic totalled 40 billion kilometres. The number of trips exceeded nearly 1.5 billion. Since 1980 the number of trips has increased by about 39 per cent, while the number of vehicle kilometres and person kilometres has increased by about 50 and 36 per cent respectively during the same period.
Passenger cars accounted for about 80 per cent of all transport measured in passenger kilometres in Norway last year. By comparison, the corresponding figure for 1960 was 40 per cent. The motor car is mainly used for local transport. Over the past 10 years the length of trips has been reduced and more people are driving alone.