Car Annual Vehicle Kilometer Travelled Estimated from Car Manufacturer Data – An Improved Method

Abstract

Private cars use in Malaysia is considered as one of the most preferred form of transport in Malaysia. In 2013, 632 602 private cars were involved in road crashes, counting for % of all road crashes on Malaysian roads. Road safety performance indicator is used to indicate road safety level and portray comparable and broader view of road safety performance. Risk is often used as a way of quantifying the level of road safety whilst exposure is an essential component of risk measurement. A very useful measure of exposure is vehicle kilometer travel. The calculation of VKT for car in this study is by using odometer reading data obtained from car manufacturer. The average kilometer car travelled for year 2013 was found to be 24,129 kilometers. The highest average kilometer travelled is in Selangor with 28,575 kilometers while the lowest kilometer was recorded at 16,342 kilometres a year, in Johor. This method is believed to be reliable with a high yielding number of samples as well as a good representative set of samples for Malaysia.

Full text

World Research & Innovation Convention on Engineering & Technology 2014, Putrajaya, Malaysia, 25-26 November 2014
ISBN xxxx-xxxx @2014 FEIIC
1
Car Annual Vehicle Kilometer Travelled
Estimated from Car Manufacturer Data – An
Improved Method
Akmalia Shabadin1,2, Nusayba Megat Johari1,3 and Hawa Mohamed Jamil1,4
1Road Safety Engineering and Environment Research Centre, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research,
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
2akmalia@miros.gov.my, 3nusayba@miros.gov.my, 4hawajamil@miros.gov.my
ABSTRACT
Private cars use in Malaysia is considered as one of the most preferred form of transport in Malaysia. In 2013,
632 602 private cars were involved in road crashes, counting for % of all road crashes on Malaysian roads.
Road safety performance indicator is used to indicate road safety level and portray comparable and broader
view of road safety performance. Risk is often used as a way of quantifying the level of road safety whilst
exposure is an essential component of risk measurement. A very useful measure of exposure is vehicle kilometer
travel. The calculation of VKT for car in this study is by using odometer reading data obtained from car
manufacturer. The average kilometer car travelled for year 2013 was found to be 24,129 kilometers. The highest
average kilometer travelled is in Selangor with 28,575 kilometers while the lowest kilometer was recorded at
16,342 kilometres a year, in Johor. This method is believed to be reliable with a high yielding number of
samples as well as a good representative set of samples for Malaysia.
Keywords: Average Annual Kilometer Travelled, Car, Fatality Index, Motorcar, Vehicle Kilometer Travelled.
INTRODUCTION
Car as the highest registered vehicle is undeniably one of the most preferred transports for Malaysians. It is
proven as the number of registered vehicle increased by 100% within the past 10 years, where figures now
reaches more than 10 million in 2013. Aligned with the increasing number of cars on the road, the number of
cars involved in crashes also increased. In 2013, 632 602 private cars were involved in road crashes. Fig. 1
shows the number of registered private vehicle and number of private vehicle involved in crashes for the past
ten years.
Figure 1. Profile of Yearly Registered Private Vehicle
In applying or adopting the necessary countermeasures, it is important to understand their exposure on the road.
Road safety performance indicators play an important role in explaining the situation. Road safety performance
indicators are defined as any measurements that are related to crashes or injury. This indicator is used to indicate
road safety level and provide a more complete picture of the road safety performance. Risk is often used as a
way of quantifying the level of road safety (1). It also can be used to improve transport safety (1). Hauer defined
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
0
2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
12,000,000
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Registered Private Vehicle Private Vehicles Involved In Road Accident

World Research & Innovation Convention on Engineering & Technology 2014, Putrajaya, Malaysia, 25-26 November 2014
ISBN xxxx-xxxx @2014 FEIIC
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risk as the probability of a crash occurring (2). The risk of a crash occurring can be estimated by dividing the
number of crashes by the road user exposure to the opportunity for a crash to occur (3). Exposure is an essential
component of risk measurement. Exposure basically is a measure of the number of opportunities for crashes or
injuries to occur. Exposure is often used as the denominator when calculating crash rates to estimate crash or
injury risk.
The common measure of exposure is distance travel that enables disaggregation by travel and demographic
group for significant comparisons. Countermeasure to improve road safety may be designed to reduce the risk of
exposure, the risk of a crash, or the risk of an injury or death once a crash has occurred (1). It is crucial to look
into the exposure measure like distance travelled to improve transport safety. A very useful measure is vehicle
kilometer travel also known as VKT, is the measurement of how far a vehicle normally travels in a year term. It
is internationally a well-established indicator and is accepted by most developed countries. Total VKT provides
a proxy measure of the overall pressure on the environment from all forms of road transport (4). However, the
estimation of VKT is not as straightforward as the traffic flow. VKT has always been a difficult indicator,
because it is not measured directly, rather it is always estimated (5).
The main VKT estimation methods can be classified into two categories namely traffic measurement methods
and non–traffic measurement methods (6). The traffic measurement VKT estimation methods are more
preferable than the non-traffic measurement methods, because the former methods are based on actual data for
vehicle movement (7). Under these two categories, there are four basic methods. The two types of traffic
measurement methods are odometer readings (vehicle-based method) and traffic counts (road-based method),
while non–traffic measurement methods consist of household or driver survey method and fuel sales method (8).
White in 1976 estimated Vehicle Kilometer Travel by inspection receipt which includes previous and current
odometer reading. Then inspection receipt was selected and the vehicle owners were surveyed via mail
questionnaire for driving exposure information (9). On the other hand, Pekka used traffic count to estimate
Vehicle Kilometer Travel and a study was done to introduce the method used to execute data collection at
various level of a road network (10). National Transport Commission Australia estimated Vehicle Kilometer
Travel using volume count on arterial and municipal roads (11). A study done in Australia estimated quarterly
VKT by vehicle type by fuel type from the state fuel sales data for all eight states in Australia (12).
In Malaysia, the Vehicle Kilometer Travel indicator development was started in 2004 and since then there have
been great improvement on the method of data collection in ensuring the reliability of the data. In 2004, the
VKT data were collected using household survey in Selangor only (13). The survey involved two stages where
the first stage involved respondents being conducted a face-to face interview and later, in the second stage, was
followed by a telephone call after a period of time. Nurshaeza also adopted the same method but it was carried
out in year 2006 (14). Although the respondent rates were high (71%), the studies revealed several
shortcomings such as high operating cost, time consuming and requires a significant number of manpower.
In 2007, Nurulhuda suggested new method, a postcard survey to obtain the odometer readings (15). This method
is recognized to be cost effective with the ability to cover wider are reach, reaching to all states in Malaysia. The
same postcard method was again adopted for the calculation of the 2010 VKT value. However, the slow
response rate (re-mailing of the postcards by respondents) is a concern, and is recorded as a weakness in the
postcard survey method for VKT. Therefore, this study adopts a different method where secondary data is
acquired from car manufacturer in estimating the VKT value for motorcar. This study also highlights the fatality
index values.
METHODOLOGY
The calculation of VKT for car is using odometer reading data from car manufacturer. Based on new motor
vehicle sales reported by Malaysian Automotive Association for 2009 until 2013, Perodua surpass with 30.6%
car selling in Malaysia while Proton able to have 24.7% car sales for the past five years (16). The press release
statement also stated that the imported Toyota car recorded up to 15.2% of car sales for the five years (16). The
three car brands above constitute more than 70% of total new car sales in Malaysia. The other 44 brands shared
the 30% of the total sales. The odometer reading of a car will be recorded when the car is serviced at their
respected service center. Then the data were sent to headquarters for storage and future use.
The odometer readings were collected from headquarters of Perodua, Proton and Toyota. These data were
recorded by the respective car manufacturers from all their service centers. Throughout Malaysia, there are
about 176 service center for Perodua, 280 service centers for Proton and Toyota has 76 service centers. The

World Research & Innovation Convention on Engineering & Technology 2014, Putrajaya, Malaysia, 25-26 November 2014
ISBN xxxx-xxxx @2014 FEIIC
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variables that have been requested from the car manufacturers were current odometer reading, current date,
registration date, car model, and service center branch. The data were requested for those who came for service
from January to March 2013. A total of 239,916 data have been provided by Proton while Perodua and Toyota
have provided 91,596 and 189,622 data respectively. The total number of sample collected is 521,134 data.
The Average Annual Kilometer Travelled (AAKT) value is calculated based on formula below:
The formula will give the average annual kilometer travelled based on their brands. The vehicle kilometer
travelled (VKT) for a car will be calculated using expression below:
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Vehicle Kilometer Travelled
A total of 521,134 vehicles were involved in the calculation of the VKT index. Table 2 shows the average
annual kilometer travelled (AAKT) by brands. On average, a Proton user drove 22,048 kilometer a year whilst a
Perodua user drove a bit further with 27,994 kilometers a year. A Toyota user drove approximately 24,895
kilometers a year.
TABLE I. AVERAGE ANNUAL KILOMETER TRAVELLED BY BRANDS
The average annual kilometer car travelled for year 2013 is 24,129 kilometers. AAKT for car for the year 2007
is 19,135 (17). In comparison, this shows that within the duration of five years, an increase of more than 4000
kilometers can be observed. This increase fairly high compared to National Travel Survey done by Department
of Transport United Kingdom reported that their average distance travelled was reduced by 4% on 2012 (18).
Table 3 illustrates the average annual kilometer travelled and the vehicle kilometer travelled by states. The
highest average kilometer travelled is in Selangor with 28,575 kilometers while the lowest kilometer a car
travelled is in Johor with only 16,342 kilometers a year.
B. Road Fatality Index
Fatality index shows trends in death rates and it is used to measure road safety performance. The three types of
fatality index indicators that always been used in transport safety are fatalities per billion VKT, fatalities per
100,000 population and fatalities per 10,000 vehicles. Table 4 show the number of fatalities for the year 2013,
the death per 100,000 populations and per 10,000 vehicles registered. When looking at fatality numbers alone,
Johor recorded the highest number of road fatality while the least is Perlis. Nevertheless, death per 100,000
population and 10,000 registered vehicles indicates different result. The result shows that Pahang had the
highest index while Johor was in the bottom three. Index per 10,000 vehicles show the same results with Pahang
ranked at first while Johor ranked at eighth. It is interesting to highlight that is the use of a different denominator
yields a different standpoint of road safety.
Car Brands
Number of Sample
AAKT (km)
Proton
239,916
22,048
Perodua
91,596
27,994
Toyota
189,622
24,895
Total
521,134
24,129
AAKT = Current Odometer Reading × 365 days
Current Service Date – Registration Date
VKT = Total Kilometer Travelled from the 3 Car Manufacturer × Number of Registered Car
Total Samples

World Research & Innovation Convention on Engineering & Technology 2014, Putrajaya, Malaysia, 25-26 November 2014
ISBN xxxx-xxxx @2014 FEIIC
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TABLE II. VEHICLE KILOMETRE TRAVELLED BY STATES
TABLE III. FATALITIES INDEX BY STATE
The fatality index per billion VKT for car was also calculated. This indicator is to describe the safety quality of
road traffic (19). In general, for year 2012, Malaysia ranked at number 21 out of 23 countries based on data
recorded by IRTAD. Fatality index per billion VKT for all vehicles is 12.2 for year 2013 and the government
target is to reduce the fatalities to 10 fatalities per billion VKT by year 2010 (20). In the event that considering
only car, the fatality index per billion VKT for car is 5.5. This was calculated to be that there are 6 deaths per
every billion kilometer car travelled in Malaysia for the year 2013.
CONCLUSIONS
In general, the average annual kilometre car travelled for year 2013 is increased around 4994 kilometres from
kilometre travelled for year 2007. The increasing trends factor may due to ease of access or possible increased
of distance between home and work place that encourages people to travel more. An in-depth study on these
factors needs to be studied for better understanding on the increasing pattern. This method is believed more
State
Kilometer Travelled (km)
AAKT (km)
Registered Car
VKT
Perlis
26,472,108.30
25,953.00
21,229
550,956,237
Kedah
621,423,233.30
22,692.90
300,868
6,827,567,437
Penang
620,520,721.40
20,979.80
1,024,197
21,487,448,221
Perak
970,021,871.30
24,933.10
699,651
17,444,468,348
Selangor
4,135,331,288.50
28,575.90
1,037,243
29,640,152,244
Wilayah Persekutuan
1,119,215,232.70
25,569.80
3,442,319
88,019,408,366
Negeri Sembilan
479,982,755.60
24,619.60
312,156
7,685,155,858
Melaka
473,455,909.80
23,551.50
310,169
7,304,945,204
Johor
1,046,923,415.90
16,342.30
1,339,446
21,889,628,366
Pahang
747,786,379.50
27,919.10
346,939
9,686,224,635
Kelantan
352,266,433.60
22,601.50
273,140
6,173,373,710
Terengganu
300,537,789.80
23,461.20
188,275
4,417,157,430
Sabah
935,051,240.30
22,821.20
556,699
12,704,539,219
Sarawak
745,488,271.20
20,737.40
683,244
14,168,704,126
Total
12,574,476,651.10
24,129.10
10,535,575
254,213,942,733
State
Fatalities
Death per 100,000
population
Death per 10,000 vehicles
registered
Perlis
72
30.0
1.1
Kedah
517
25.7
4.4
Penang
381
23.1
1.8
Perak
770
31.5
4.3
Selangor
1019
17.6
4.8
Wilayah Persekutuan
243
4.2
0.5
Negeri Sembilan
396
36.7
4.5
Melaka
258
30.4
2.5
Johor
1128
32.3
4.2
Pahang
592
37.7
6.3
Kelantan
378
22.6
5.0
Terengganu
320
28.4
2.6
Sabah
420
12.0
4.1
Sarawak
421
16.1
2.0
Total
6915
23.1
2.9

World Research & Innovation Convention on Engineering & Technology 2014, Putrajaya, Malaysia, 25-26 November 2014
ISBN xxxx-xxxx @2014 FEIIC
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reliable with number of sample is quite high and more representable. This method will be suggested to be used
for the next development of vehicle kilometre travelled for car.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research was funded by a research grant from Malaysian Institute Road Safety Research (MIROS).
Greatest appreciation to Proton Holdings Berhad, the Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sendirian Berhad
(PERODUA) and Toyota Malaysia Sdn. Bhd for providing all the drivers details of odometer readings. A very
special appreciation goes out to all drivers, who contributed indirectly towards the completion of this study and
to the staff of MIROS who helped with the preparation of facilities required for the study.
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