The number of registered vehicles on the Island's roads went down by 700 in the year 2001, according to the latest statistics digest, which was released by the Statistics Department this week.

But by the end of 2001 there were 300 more private cars on the road than there were in 2000, and an extra 200 more motorcycles and scooters.

Much of the decrease in the overall vehicle count was in the number of auxiliary cycles which went from 9,132 in 2000 to 7,724 in 2001.

A downward trend in registered road vehicles started in 1999 when there were 52,432. At the end of 2001 the count was 45,342.

Buses and taxis, construction vehicles, and vehicles used in agriculture showed marginal declines. And the number of people using public transport (4,655,894) is the highest since 1996/1997. During fiscal year 1999/00, 4,311,571 people used public transport, and in 1996/97 the figure came in at 4,821,696. Over 19,000 of those were on charter trips, and close to 25, 000 were on sightseeing tours as compared to 11,000 and 22,200 respectively in 2000/01.

While the number of ordinary passengers in 2000/01 (4,655,894) were lower than in 1996 (4,777,344), it was higher than in 1999/00 (4,311,571).

The Bermuda Digest of Statistics contains data extracted from information collected during the last census as well as a range of statistical tables on the Island's social, demographic, environmental and economic conditions. It is available at $10 a copy from the Department of Statistics.