This annual bulletin, Road Statistics 2006: Traffic, Speeds and Congestion, brings together statistics that in previous years had been published in four separate reports. The DfT titles that have been replaced are: • Road Traffic Statistics (annual bulletin) • Vehicle Speeds in Great Britain • Traffic Speeds in English Urban Areas • Traffic Speeds on English Trunk Roads. As well as bringing together statistics that were previously published in the above bulletins, Road Statistics 2006: Traffic, Speeds and Congestion includes previously un-published data and is an attempt to present road statistics in a more accessible and coherent way. This is the first bulletin in a new annual series bringing together information on traffic, road lengths, vehicle speeds and congestion in Great Britain. It replaces the annual Road Traffic Statistics bulletin; most of the Vehicle Speeds bulletin (although first results were published in April); and includes results from the 2006 Urban Speed Survey as well as historic Inter-Urban Speed Surveys. Congestion data are included as experimental statistics. The department aims to produce regular estimates of road traffic, road lengths, vehicle speeds and congestion to the highest possible standards. These statistics are used for a variety of purposes within government, informing policy and providing the source data for analytical research. One of the main uses of the traffic estimates is to feed directly into the National Transport Model. The National Transport Model is a tool for comparing the likely impact of alternative national transport policies. DfT also make the national traffic estimates public in order to provide researchers, local authorities, industry and the public with high quality data. (Author/publisher) For the complete report, annexes and tables please see Road Statistics 2006: Traffic, Speeds and Congestion Report (PDF 1 Mb, http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/221412/221546/226956/261695/roadsta…), Annex A: Speed Survey Methodology (PDF 63 kb, http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/221412/221546/226956/261695/annexas…), Annex B: How probe data are derived (PDF 12 kb, http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/221412/221546/226956/261695/annexbp…) and Road Traffic in Great Britain 2006 data tables (Excel 454 kb, http://www.dft.gov.uk/172974/173025/221412/221546/227050/261688/roadtra…)
Abstract