Goa has surpassed some Asian and American nations in terms of its vehicle population. Goa is smallest state in India, but has one of the highest vehicle-population ratio of 1:1.5 as on December 2013 according to Transport department statistics revealed on December 31, 2013. Goa has a total population of 15 lakhs and there are 9.87 lakh vehicles registered in Goa which translates to a vehicle for every adult person in Goa.
The State ranks 15th in the world as per World Bank Institute 2010 rankings with 613 motor vehicles per 1000 people.
2013 may not be a good year in terms of vehicle sales where only 62,000 vehicles were registered in the State a drop of 8 percent compared to last year. Thanks to the mining ban and a slowdown in economy which can be blamed for the drop in sales. In 2012 around 70,000 transport as well as non-transport vehicles were registered in Goa.
The numbers of vehicles are on a rise mainly due to the increasing tourism, lower frequency of buses and not a very efficient local transport system.
Also Goan’s prefer to use their personal mode of transport mainly due to convenience. With petrol prices slashed, the running costs are lower and hence the locals prefer to use their own mode of transport which is largely two wheelers.