Skip to main content

Department for Transport data shows UK traffic growth

Data from the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) shows that motor vehicle traffic has increased, for the tenth quarter in succession. Motor vehicle traffic in Great Britain increased by 2.2% in the year ending September 2015 from the previous year. The provisional figure of 505.76 billion vehicle km is the highest rolling annual total ever and 0.6% higher than the pre-recessional peak in the year ending September 2007. The upward trend in traffic volumes is likely to reflect growth in the UK economy, wi
November 12, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
Data from the UK’s 5432 Department for Transport (DfT) shows that motor vehicle traffic has increased, for the tenth quarter in succession. Motor vehicle traffic in Great Britain increased by 2.2% in the year ending September 2015 from the previous year. The provisional figure of 505.76 billion vehicle km is the highest rolling annual total ever and 0.6% higher than the pre-recessional peak in the year ending September 2007.

The upward trend in traffic volumes is likely to reflect growth in the UK economy, with GDP 2.6% higher in the year ending September 2015 than in the previous year. Lower fuel prices may also have contributed to increased traffic.

Compared to the previous year, in the year ending September 2015, car traffic increased by 1.7% and van traffic continued to rise faster than any other vehicle type, up 6% to a new peak of 75.04 billion vehicle km. In addition, all road classes experienced higher volumes of traffic, with traffic on rural minor roads increasing the fastest, at 5.8%. Motorway traffic increased by 2% to 105.64 billion vehicle km, the highest ever level.

Car and taxi traffic increased by 1.7% on the previous year to 396.16 billion vehicle km. This is just below the peak level of 397.28 billion vehicle km in the year ending June 2007. LGV traffic increased by 6% from the previous year to a new high of 75.04 billion vehicle km. LGV traffic has increased its share of motor vehicle traffic by 2.4% from10 years ago, from 12.4% in the year ending September 2005 to 14.8% in the year ending September 2015. HGV traffic increased on the previous year by 1.2%, but remains below the peak level in the year ending June 2008.

Traffic has increased across all road types and on motorways and rural roads was higher than it has ever been. Motorway traffic increased by 2% from the previous year, to 104.64 billion vehicle km. Traffic on urban roads increased by 1.0% on the previous year but remains 4% below the peak level of 191.424 billion vehicle km in the year ending September 2007.

On rural A roads traffic rose by 2% to 145.12 billion vehicle km, while on urban A roads traffic rose by 0.5% to 79.04 billion vehicle km. Traffic volumes also increased by 5.8% on minor rural roads, the biggest percentage increase of any road type, to 72.64 billion vehicle km. On minor urban roads traffic grew by 1.4% to 104.32 billion vehicle km.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UK equipment sales bounce back in June
    July 25, 2023
    UK sales of construction equipment in June were 8 percent above the same month last year according to the UK trade body Construction Equipment Association.
  • Russia one of Europe “growth engines” for construction equipment
    June 4, 2013
    Russia is one of the “growth engines” for the European construction equipment industry, says Ralf Wezel, secretary general of CECE, the European Construction Equipment Association. According to the CECE, one out of three tower cranes produced and sold in Europe are currently going to Russia. The Association says that Russian governmental and private projects in the oil and gas industry and in the infrastructure and housing sectors are stimulating demand, with building hoists, truck mixers, concrete batching
  • Mexico's first electric taxis
    May 1, 2012
    Mexico's capital has taken delivery of the country's first all-electric taxi cabs under an agreement to promote eco-friendly vehicle use between Japan-headquartered Nissan Motor and the local government.
  • Italian crash rate reducing
    May 24, 2016
    An in-depth analysis of crash statistics from Italy shows that road safety is improving in the country, albeit slowly. The Italian National Statistiscs Institute has published the yearly report (2014) covering road crashes. The data reveals that in 2014 there were 1777,031 crashes involving injuries. This represents a drop of 2.5% compared with the figures for 2013. In all 3,381 people were killed in road crashes in Italy during 2014, a drop of 0.6% compared with 2013. The number of serious injuries from ro