Four in five households are living in "transport poverty".
These households spend more than 10% of their disposable income on public and private transport, with most of the money going on buying and running a car, according to figures highlighted by the RAC Foundation today.
The lowest-earning households spend 9% of their disposable income on transport, while the highest- earning fork out 15.5%.
On average, 14% of weekly expenditure for households – both car-owning and non-car-owning – goes on transport, with £64.90 spent out of a total of £473.60.
RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: "Rightly, there is much concern about the four million households who need to spend more than 10% of their income to keep warm.
"Yet this figure is dwarfed by the 21 million households that spend more than 10% on transport. For the average household, transport is the single biggest outgoing, bar none."
He said: "The situation is even starker when you look only at those homes that have a car or van. In these cases, the poorest one-fifth of households are spending at least 17% of income on a vehicle – leaving aside anything extra that goes on public transport.
"Just like heating our homes, most of us have to spend money on transport."
Mr Glaister continued: "The public finances are a matter for the Chancellor, but, when he makes decisions about the rate of fuel duty, he must be aware of their impact on the 34 million people who drive."
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