§ 38. Mr. CranTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the estimated increase in the flow of business traffic on Britain's motorways over the past five years.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThere are no direct estimates of the amount of business traffic on roads in Britain. The flow of traffic by vehicle type can be a guide to business use, and the data are summarised in the following table.
Percentage increase from 1983 to 1988 in the annual average daily flow per kilometre of motorway in Great Britain by type of vehicle Type of vehicle Percentage Heavy goods vehicles 44 Light goods vehicles 88 Buses and coaches 30 For all cars and taxis growth has been 55 per cent. A proportion of this traffic will be for business purposes, but such traffic cannot be separately identified in the traffic census.
During this period, the length of motorways open to traffic has risen by 9.5 per cent. This means that the total 111W number of kilometres travelled on motorways has risen more quickly than the flow per kilometre. The details of total traffic are:
Percentage increase from 1983 to 1988 in kilometres travelled on motorways in Great Britain by type of vehicle Type of vehicle Percentage Heavy goods vehicle 58 Light goods vehicle 106 Buses and coaches 42 Notes:
For cars and taxis as a whole the growth has been 70 per cent.
1. Light goods vehicles covers goods vehicles up to 30 cwt unladen weight.
2. Heavy goods vehicles are goods vehicles with an unladen weight greater than 30 cwt.
3. Buses and coaches covers vehicles with nine or more seats.