Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
350
300
250
All other vehicles
(additional)
Cars and taxis
200
150
100
50
0
Figure 3.1
Road traffic (cars and other vehicles) 1950-2006 (source: TSGB Table 2.1)
80
Pedal cycles
70
60
Motor cycles etc
50
Larger buses &
coaches
Light vans <3.5
tonnes
Goods vehicles 3.5
tonnes +
40
30
20
10
0
Figure 3.2
Road traffic by category (excl. cars and taxis) 1950-2006 (source: TSGB Table 7.1)
The shift to car use (and reduced car occupancy) means that much more traffic is now
generated than the growth in personal travel would imply.
Amongst non-car traffic (Figure 3.2) the most striking features are the decline in
cycling in the 1950s and 60s and the disproportionate growth of light vans which
have doubled since the mid-1980s. Also since the mid-1980s bus and coach traffic has
increased by almost a half.
A feature not evident in the graph is the increasing size of vehicles within the goods
vehicle category and greater use of the largest, articulated variety with a maximum
gross weight of 38 tonnes permitted in 1982. This has been the principal factor in the
volume of goods vehicle traffic increasing at a slower rate than the volume of freight
moved by road. In 1980 vehicles of this kind accounted for just over a quarter of
heavy goods vehicle traffic. Since that time the volume of freight moved by road has
increased by 80% but the volume of heavy goods traffic has increased by only 33%.
However nearly a half of this traffic now consists of articulated vehicles whose mileage
is 2.4 times greater than it was 25 years ago.
As a proportion of all freight moved within Great Britain, road haulage currently
accounts for 63%, coastal shipping and canal 24%, rail 9% and pipeline 4%. Waterborne
freight increased threefold until the 1980s but has been broadly stable since then.
Freight carried by rail declined in absolute as well as relative terms to a third of its post-
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