Indicator 14. Travel; distance
Total vehicle kilometres
Traffic on Scottish roads: million vehicle-kilometres
Year | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
|---|
All roads | 35,175 | 36,000 | 36,736 | 37,777 | 38,582 | 39,169 | 39,770 | 39,572 | 40,065 | 41,572 | 42,045 |
|---|
Major roads
(M and A) | 22,666 | 23,300 | 23,987 | 24,839 | 25,452 | 25,885 | 26,185 | 25,948 | 26,342 | 27,300 | 27,689 |
|---|
Source: Department for Transport
The relevance of the indicator
Road traffic is forecast to rise by 27% on 2001 levels by 2021 1. This increase is unsustainable. People should have much greater access to services and goods without needing to travel. Sustainable communities are ones which are planned with travel minimisation as a goal.
Detailed definition and source details
The indicator is defined as the estimated total volume of traffic on Scotland's roads, in millions of vehicle-kilometres, as estimated by the Department for Transport. The chart also shows the estimated volume of traffic on major roads (Motorways and A roads). The data are published annually in Scottish Transport Statistics2, Chapter 6 of which describes DfT's methods of estimating road traffic volumes. ( NB: the figures shown above for 1998 and earlier years differ slightly from those published in Scottish Transport Statistics in August 2004, because DfT revised its estimates for those years after providing the figures for that publication.)
Trends
The Department for Transport's revised estimates show increases in traffic on Scottish roads in almost every year since 1993 (the figure for 2000 was affected by the fuel protests in September that year). The estimated total volume of traffic on Scotland's roads increased by 20% between 1993 (the earliest year for which estimates are available) and 2003; over the same period, traffic on major roads (Motorways and A roads) rose by 22%.
Further disaggregation
The Department for Transport estimates can be disaggregated by road class, vehicle type and local authority. However, the components of the local authority estimates which relate to minor roads (B, C and unclassified roads) provide only rough indications of the likely total volume of traffic on such roads. DfT also estimates separately traffic on roads, other than Motorways, which are in "rural" and "urban" areas. However, DfT does not produce separate figures for Motorway traffic in "rural" areas and "urban" areas, so cannot provide totals for all traffic in such areas. 1993 is the first year for which DfT produced estimates of traffic on minor roads in Scotland, and hence the first year for which there are estimates of the total volume of traffic on all roads in Scotland. Estimates (on a different basis) of the volume of traffic on major roads in Scotland are available for each year back to the mid-1980s 3.
Target
To strive to stabilise road traffic volumes at 2001 levels by 2021.
Action
We wish to tackle the challenge of urban and inter-urban congestion and to move towards a sustainable transport system, reducing impacts on our environment, particularly by greater use of public transport. Stabilising road traffic at 2001 levels by 2021 would help to reduce congestion and harmful emissions. We will do this through investing in an integrated package of measures - modernising and improving public transport, promoting alternative modes of transport to the private car through initiatives such as ChooseAnotherWay campaign and the StepChange pilot-projects and targeted motorway and trunk road improvements which lock in the benefits of reduced congestion. In 2005-06 for the first time, we will be spending over £1 billion of departmental budget on Transport, increasing to almost £1.4 billion by 2007-08 to meet the commitments in our transport long-term investment plan. 70% of this will be spent on public transport over the period of the transport long-term investment plan, to fight congestion and to promote more sustainable transport. Faber Maunsell are currently completing an evaluation and review of local authority road traffic reduction targets on behalf of the Scottish Executive. It is important that local authorities where volumes of road traffic are causing congestion and environmental problems have meaningful road traffic reduction targets. We are also working with the Department for Transport on its feasibility study into UK-wide road pricing.
Footnotes1 The figure of 27% comes from the Review of Local Transport Strategies and RTRA Reports prepared by Steer Davies Gleave in October 2001.
2 Available on the Scottish Executive website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/transtat/sts
3 More information can be found in Chapter 6 of Scottish Transport Statistics.