Hmmm... what if we tried to aggregate several traffic reports from one system each in a different region of space? I think that would be the most accurate way unless FD release information (we used to get that back in the beta).
I think this is interesting, because it leads to another discussion: What should the ship usage numbers be? Which ships should be common and which shouldn't?
Those are indeed good questions. What they "should" be is simply dictated by the design intentions. ED is currently designed such that more expensive ships in each category clearly outclass the previous, in fact the Anaconda pretty much outclasses every ship in every category, except maybe for the T9 in solo play (for now, while solo play remains safer and the AI/NPC threat remains low). If they continue with this design strategy (adding stronger ships such that there is only one single "best" ship, then eventually everyone is going to have the same ship. This is obviously a poor design choice, hopefully they are not really going down this road but instead plan on building several equally good ships at the "end game", so to speak. Indeed, the only way to prevent everyone from ultimately moving to the same "best" ship is to make several end-game ships with the exact same handling and stats.
Also, there needs to be a role for ships with different roles. Small fighters need to be faster and slightly tougher (so they can't be taken out in one pass with larger weapons) and have access to slightly better weapons. Right now there is no role for smaller fighters if you can get a bigger one, but it would be awesome if strategy dictated having a mixed fleet as opposed to all Anacondas. Same goes with the python -- it is maneuverable and powerful, but still right now if you can afford a Conda with 8 shield boosters (why are shield boosters multiplicative???), there's really just no justification for the python unless you really insist on seeing the lower half of your screen...
TLDR: Having important roles in the same battle for different fighting strategies (agile strike fighters, bombers, midsize assault cruisers, capital-class battleships, etc.) would increase ship diversity. Having multiple equally good ships in each of those strategic categories would also increase diversity.
