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PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:57 
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Thursday 6 July 2006 10:08
Department for Transport (National)

Road Traffic in Great Britain: Final 2005 estimates


The Department for Transport has today published National Statistics on Traffic in Great Britain. Traffic in Great Britain grew by an estimated 0.2 per cent between 2004 and 2005, slightly less than provisionally estimated. This increase is below the average rise of recent years.

The statistical bulletin Road Traffic Statistics: 2005 provides detailed analyses of road traffic estimates by vehicle type, road class and geographic area. Key results show that between 2004 and 2005:

Vehicle type:
Estimated car traffic levels fell by 0.2 per cent
Goods vehicle (excluding light van) traffic fell by 1.1 per cent
Light van traffic increased by an estimated 2.9 per cent in the same period
Two-wheeled motor vehicle traffic rose by 5.4 per cent in this period following a drop of 8.1 per cent between 2003 and 2004.
Pedal cycle traffic is estimated to have increased by 5.2 per cent.

Road type:
Motorway traffic rose by 0.4 per cent.
Traffic on other major roads fell by 0.4 per cent
Traffic on minor roads rose by 0.8 per cent

I am not sure where they did this research, It wasn't near my house.

more usefull stats http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/d ... 26282.hcsp


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The number of older drivers has rapidly increased, as the cohorts of middle aged drivers reach retirement age. From 1989/91 to 2004, the proportion of people aged 70 and over who held a full driving licence increased from 32 per cent to 47 per cent.
Over the same period, there was a substantial fall in licence holders among young adults, with the percentage of 17-20 year olds who held a licence falling from 43 per cent to 26 per cent. Possible reasons for this include the increasing difficulty of passing the driving tests; increased cost of lessons and insurance; and more young people are students and unable to afford cars.

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“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 13:20 
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I occasionally see Road Traffic Surveys taking place with a few vehicles parked up by the side of the road with people inside clicking away as each vehicle goes past. My usual problem with them is the inconsiderate parking choices such so that they block as much visibility when coming out of a junction as possible, and are hence a real hazard.

The figures for traffic levels are quite realistic - yes there may be more cars being bought, but this is mainly down to people buying newer cars rather than their being more drivers, and the number of vehicles actually on the road is totally dependent on the number of drivers not the number of vehicles.

People are getting their licences later because quite simply they cannot afford to learn to drive or insure a vehicle (and there are less of them anyway due to birth rate changes), and older people are retiring and consequently driving less, but congestion is getting worse due to... well if it isn't more vehicles on the roads, then it must be down to less road capacity, which in turn is a direct consequence of government policy.

The DfT commissioned a report about it (published with disclaimers), and given that rising levels of traffic is now thoroughly discredited as being the cause, then all the other options must be the real causes. Personally I blame Prescott for initiating many of the policies that are still buggering up the UKs roads. The guy is a criminal, and I hope he gets jailed for his subtle (but deniable) corruption regarding the Dome and Super Casinos.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads_503854.hcsp


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 14:56 
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Rewolf wrote:
but congestion is getting worse due to... well if it isn't more vehicles on the roads, then it must be down to less road capacity, which in turn is a direct consequence of government policy.


Do you not think house prices maybe having an impact? Some families can only afford a family house some distance from their places of work in dormitory towns, thereby increasing congestion on the routes into large towns and cities? Whilst overall car use is down according to this survey, there maybe no change or even an increase in peak time use.


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 15:03 
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Traffic growth has been linear since before 1950. I expect we just have a short term variation. A mini blip. Or perhaps economic growth has slowed in the private sector a little? And the government masks the figure with public sector growth?

Image

The green line represents +8.75bvkm. The red line is official data. You can clearly see the effect of the 1973 oil crisis, the late 80s boom and the early 90s bust. Other than that, we're dead on track.

Of course, the growth in percentage terms is less each year.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 15:30 
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Check out new car registrations...

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June new car registrations down 3.6%; YTD market down 4.2%
Compared to June 2005, the UK new car market fell 3.6% to 219,497 units, reports the SMMT today. Year-to-date figures show 4.2 per cent fall to 1,241,925 units. SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan commented, “In a market that has wobbled on the back of weaker consumer confidence and higher fuel costs, it's not surprising that supermini cars and diesel models are picking up.”

New car registrations have now fallen for nine successive quarters, although the market has shown some signs of recovery, rising for the first time this year in May. private volumes have fallen 4.6 per cent in the first half of the year. Consumer confidence is clearly still a factor in many buying decisions.

Fleet and business volumes showed a 1.5% fall in both June and Q2 ‘06, but remained down 3.9% over the first half of the year, mainly because of diesel company car sales brought forward to Q4 2005 to beat the 3% benefit-in-kind tax waiver on Euro 4 cars which ended in December 2005.

Registrations of UK-built cars fell by 15.2% in June and by 14.6% over the year to date. Imports have also fallen, but at a far lower rate.

Data on registrations by market segment and by manufacturer are posted on www.smmt.co.uk/data.


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