The observance of a restriction on the entry of heavy goods vehicles into part of Gloucester has been studied; vehicles with an unladen weight over 3 tons (hgv's) are prohibited from entering the area of the city within the ring road unless they require access. In the study the routes of samples of vehicles arriving in the area from the west and the south were observed. Of the hgv's entering the restricted part of the city from the west and south, 25 per cent and 8 per cent respectively were `through' vehicles (those with no stops to make in the city) which contravened the restriction by using a city route instead of the ring road thereby saving about 5 minutes. The violation rates for through vehicles (proportions contravening the restriction) of 37 per cent and 22 per cent respectively, were much higher than were found in earlier studies at Newbury and Oxford where either no time was saved or time was lost by contravening the restriction. The provision of advance warning of the restrictions might reduce these violation rates particularly in the case of vehicles approaching from the west. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting