§ Mr. AdleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has available on the average speed of traffic in(a) central London, (b) Paris, (c) Rome and (d) Madrid.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyI have been asserting for a year that traffic moves faster in London than in comparable cities. I do not know whether this is true. So far no one has contradicted the claim.
Comparisons of average traffic speeds between cities are difficult. The figures we have show speeds of 20 kilometres per hour or less for most major cities. Differences in survey method and coverage do not permit any firm conclusions to be drawn about differences.
Speeds in central London are regularly surveyed at three or four-year intervals using timed runs over a 201W network of 160 km of road, including all A roads. In 1986, the average speed between 7 am and 7 pm was found to be 18 kph. Full details are published in statistics bulletin (87)41. A copy is in the library.
The available information for other cities is more limited. For Rome, the Rome municipal administration has provided figures for 1986 relating to the 13 km bypass route around the historic centre. The centre itself, covering roughly 14 square kilometres, is subject to traffic control measures which permit only residents, public transport and vehicles with special tickets to enter in the periods 7 am to 11 am and 3 pm to 7 pm. A series of timed runs commencing at 7.30 am, 10.00 am, 12.30 pm and 5.30 pm produced an average speed of 20 kph.
According to the office of the mayor, the average traffic speed in Paris in 1987 was estimated at between 14 and 15 kph. Details of the survey method used and the area covered are not available.
Our searches have failed to locate any statistics on the average traffic speed in Madrid.
I believe traffic does move faster in Berlin, where few drive in from the suburbs.