For one week in September 2000 the pumps ran dry in filling stations across the UK. Motorists were unsure when they would be able to refill their vehicles and journeys by car that would previously have been taken for granted were scrutinised and assessed in terms of their necessity and efficiency.

Cars are a central part of most people's lifestyles in the UK and it is not surprising that the public react with caution to transport policies that could restrict use of their cars. Opportunities to explore potential public reactions to future policy measures and specifically the response in practice of car users when use of their cars is compromised are rare. The fuel crisis presented such an opportunity on an unprecedented scale. It was, in effect, an impromptu experiment of car user behaviour in response to the imposition of vehicle fuel rationing. It is perhaps the first time for some 30 years that researchers have had the opportunity to gather revealed preference data as opposed to stated preference data on matters on such a large scale.

The EPSRC provided 'emergency' funding to enable the Transportation Research Group at the University of Southampton to conduct a large scale mailback questionnaire survey immediately following the crisis. This has been completed with over 1600 responses received from across the UK. A web survey using the same questionnaire was also conducted and received a further 700 responses. A subsequent project has proceeded with the data entry and processing, analysis and interpretation of the survey responses and dealt with dissemination of the findings thereby drawing the study to a conclusion. The study has highlighted the extent to which individuals are able and willing to reduce their use of the car. It has identified what individual and household circumstances and trip purposes are most and least reliant on the car as a necessity for mobility and accessibility.

To ensure prompt and widespread dissemination of the findings of this and other studies relating to the fuel crisis the following book has been published by Ashgate (April 2002): 'Transport Lessons from the Fuel Tax Protests of 2000'.

To allow the wider research community to benfit from this EPSRC funded work, the full datasets resulting from the mailback questionnaire survey of car users (1659 responses) and the duplicate web survey (745 responses) are publically available and can be downloaded from this site (see below). A copy of the questionnaire itself is also available for download.