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Downward trend in UK traffic to stay?
Page 20
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THE VOLUME of road traffic in Great Britain fell during the first three months of the year, according to Department of Transport figures.
During the first quarter of 1979 total volume of road traffic (number of vehicles x distance covered, measured in vehicle-kilometres) was two per cent lower than in the first quarter of 1978. It dropped from 60.3 thousand million vehicle kilometres to 59.0 thousand million vehicle kilometres. This is the total for all types of traffic.
Goods vehicle traffic in particular fell by half this average, from 5.2 thousand million vehicle kilometres to 5.1, a drop of one per cent. But bus and coach traffic volume fell by 4.1 per cent compared with the first three months of last year.
The drop can largely be explained by the unusually harsh winter, the lorry drivers' strike and other industrial disputes during the first quarter of the year, says the Department of Transport.
The Department also predicts that the rise in petrol and diesel fuel prices played a part in reducing traffic volumes, and this should be revealed in the next two quarters' figures.
Analysing the traffic volume figure by type of road, the Department of Transport statistics show that traffic on local and minor roads and motorway traffic fell most of all, while trunk and principal road traffic fell only very slightly. This is the first time in ten years that motorway traffic has fallen.
Since sales of commercial vehicles continue to flourish (see page 19) while car sales are rather depressed, it seems likely that commercial vehicle traffic could carry on rising relative to other road traffic in future.