Car ownership has risen over the lifetime of the GHS with the greatest rate of increase in the 1970s and 1980s. The proportion of households with access to a car or van rose from 52% in 1972 to 59% in 1981 rising to 68% in 1991 and then to 72% in 2001. The proportion of households with two or more cars tripled, from 9% in 1972 to 28% in 2001.