The 1999/2000 Urban Speed Survey is the second in a continuing series of surveys outside London, which aims to monitor average peak and off-peak speeds in the 19 largest urban areas in England and for 5 randomly selected areas. It includes several tables, charts and graphs. Survey cars were driven for a total of almost 5000 miles, measuring average speeds and collecting other data where road works were encountered. Surveying took place on weekdays, excluding Monday morning, Friday afternoon and school holidays. Traffic speeds were 21.2 mph and 25.4 mph in urban areas outside London, during peak and off-peak periods, respectively. In 14 of the 24 areas, speeds have decreased since 1996/97 in peak periods, and in 11 of them they decreased significantly in off-peak periods. The greatest difference between off-peak and peak period speeds was 7mph, observed in Southampton. The proportion of time spent at less than 10mph during the peak period was greatest in Southampton and least in Peterborough. In six areas, particularly in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, there was an increase in average speed at peak periods because of a decrease in road works during the survey period. The percentage of time spent at speeds lower than 5mph increased from 27% in 1996/97 to 29.2% in 1999/2000.
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