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Road freight figures soar
Page 9
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• by Jemiter Ball The amount of freight carried by road has soared 69% over the past decade to 157bn tonne-kilometres, says a new government report.
The Department for Transport's Transport Trends 2002 survey says road traffic—both passenger and freight—rose 73% between 1980
and 2001. This includes a 71% jump in freight traffic to 79bn vehicle-kilometres, with most growth coming from light vans.
In 2001, road haulage accounted for 63% of all goods moved compared with 53% in 1980, while rail freights marketshare fell from 10% to 8% in the same period.
A Road Haulage Association spokeswoman says that, despite the benefits of rail, road continues to be the most widely-used form of freight transport. "Even with a marked increase in congestion, road is still regarded as the most efficient means of getting goods from A to B."
"Freight is a £43bn industry that is growing at around 4% a year compared to a gross domestic product rate of 2 or 3% per annum over the last few years. This makes us one of the strongest. growing sectors of the economy, which is fantastic news," adds Simon Chapman, the Freight Transport Association's chief economist.
But environmental pressure group Transport 2000 argues that the government needs to look at moving more freight by rail and water, as these methods would have less impact on the environment and UK communities.