Traffic in Great Britain: Quarter 1 2007

This publication includes Statistics on Traffic in Great Britain, including analyses by vehicle type and road class, for the first quarter of 2007.

 

These provisional figures indicate that estimated traffic levels rose by 1.2 per cent between Q1 2006 and Q1 2007.   Other key results, comparing the provisional Q1 2007 estimates with the provisional estimates for the same quarter one year earlier (Q1 2006) include: 

 

  • Car traffic rose by 1 per cent 
  • Light van traffic rose by 4 per cent  
  • Goods vehicle traffic fell by 2 per cent 
  • Traffic on motorways was virtually unchanged
  • Traffic on Rural A roads and Minor Rural roads both increased by 2 per cent
  • Traffic on Urban A roads fell by 2 per cent and traffic on Minor Urban roads rose by 3 per cent 

Notes

 

  1. The next quarterly bulletin will be published on 9 August 2007.  Final traffic estimates for 2006 will be published on 26 July 2007.
  2. The figures relate to traffic, measured in terms of vehicle kilometres, and sometimes known as the volume of traffic.  This is not the same as congestion.  For example, traffic levels could increase without increasing congestion if traffic is more evenly spread during the day, with less during peak periods and more at other times.   Congestion has a number of consequences, such as causing delays and making journey times unreliable.
  3. The quarterly estimates are based mainly on data at 152 sites. Caution should be taken in drawing conclusions about longer term trends from a single quarter's or year's estimates. 
  4. Following the introduction of the new London Automatic Traffic Count classifiers, from Q2 2006, the London data may show a shift in the balance between different vehicle types.  However, such changes will have a small impact on the quarterly provisional estimates for Great Britain.  (The impact will be minimal as London traffic comprises only a small proportion of the Great Britain total).  As a result, minor revisions have been made to the methodology for calculating traffic on London roads from Q2 2006 onwards.  
  5. Statistics Bulletin Traffic in Great Britain – 1st  Quarter 2007 is available at the following address: http://www.dft.gov.uk/transtat/roadtraff

Publication details

Published on 10 May 2007 by Transport Statistics

Available by telephone order on +44 (0)20 7944 3095

E-mail roadtraff.stats@dft.gsi.gov.uk for queries concerning survey results

For information about release of this product see National Statistics Online

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