The number of light commercial vehicles in Australia has increased at a faster rate than both population and state economic growth. This report examines the contribution of light commercial vehicles and light rigid trucks to the urban supply chain. It also considers their impact on traffic capacity, network congestion, the environment and road safety. This project defined light freight vehicles (LFVs) as being a LCV or LRT which is used primarily for the carriage of freight. That is, LFVs transport goods from one location to another without adding further value. It collected traffic flow data from a number of sites during peak and off- peak periods on weekdays in two capital and two regional cities in New South Wales and Queensland. Analysis found LFVs comprise 9.1% of more than 2,100 observed LCVs, and 77.3% of the 251 observed LRTs. These findings are substantially supported by the Melbourne Commercial Vehicle Video Study of 2012. LFVs comprise only 4.1% of all the traffic streams observed in four cities. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting