25th July 2008
Official figures on congestion on the UK's roads show that more action must be taken by Government, a business group has said.
The Department for Transport (DfT's) statistical bulletin, Road Statistics 2007: Traffic, Speeds and Congestion, shows that 38% of speeds during average morning peak traffic were 15mph or lower in 2007.
"These statistics are yet further evidence that congestion on our crumbling road network is unacceptable," said Chris Hannant, head of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). The BCC claims that congestion costs UK firms more than £17 billion a year.
"Businesses depend on free flowing roads in order to function as competitively as possible," Hannant added. "Whilst the Government has made some short term commitments to help ease the gridlock, far more long term, innovative and ambitious thinking is needed."
Commenting recently on efforts to improve road use, AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said that there "remains a practical difficulty" with car-share schemes.
"Satellite parking at major junctions could be a good idea," he said. "For example, if 30 people are all travelling to London for a meeting, they could park their cars just outside the M25 and switch to larger car share vehicles for the rest of the journey."
The DfT report also found that light van traffic is continuing to grow faster than overall traffic. Small van traffic rose 4.6% from 2006 to 2007.
"This reflects the growth of the service economy although we would expect this growth to slow in the current economic climate," said Edward King, president of the AA, quoted in the Times.
Road figures show 'unacceptable' congestion
The Department for Transport (DfT's) statistical bulletin, Road Statistics 2007: Traffic, Speeds and Congestion, shows that 38% of speeds during average morning peak traffic were 15mph or lower in 2007.
"These statistics are yet further evidence that congestion on our crumbling road network is unacceptable," said Chris Hannant, head of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). The BCC claims that congestion costs UK firms more than £17 billion a year.
"Businesses depend on free flowing roads in order to function as competitively as possible," Hannant added. "Whilst the Government has made some short term commitments to help ease the gridlock, far more long term, innovative and ambitious thinking is needed."
Commenting recently on efforts to improve road use, AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said that there "remains a practical difficulty" with car-share schemes.
"Satellite parking at major junctions could be a good idea," he said. "For example, if 30 people are all travelling to London for a meeting, they could park their cars just outside the M25 and switch to larger car share vehicles for the rest of the journey."
The DfT report also found that light van traffic is continuing to grow faster than overall traffic. Small van traffic rose 4.6% from 2006 to 2007.
"This reflects the growth of the service economy although we would expect this growth to slow in the current economic climate," said Edward King, president of the AA, quoted in the Times.
- 21st November 2008 Official retail figures 'hide tough condition', says BRC
- 20th November 2008 Entrepreneurs 'should be school governors'
- 19th November 2008 Small businesses urged to register hazardous substances
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