Accredited official statistics

Provisional road traffic estimates, Great Britain: April 2025 to March 2026

Published 25 June 2026

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

1. About this release

This release presents provisional estimates for road traffic in Great Britain for April 2025 to March 2026. Provisional estimates are published quarterly and remain provisional until after they have been constrained by the final annual estimates each year. These provisional estimates are based on traffic data collected continuously from a network of around 300 automatic traffic counters. Final annual figures also incorporate manual traffic count data.

Traffic shows a seasonal pattern at the national level, being highest in summer and lowest in winter. This publication focuses on rolling annual traffic totals, which better illustrate medium and long term trends in traffic.

Annual traffic estimates are usually published between May and June of the following year. The next provisional figures, for the year ending June 2026, are due to be released in September 2026.

These are accredited official statistics^{[footnote 1]} and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in February 2013. For more information, see the Further information section.

2. Headline figures

Overall traffic levels in the year ending March 2026 were higher than in year ending March 2025 and above pre-pandemic levels.

Chart 1: Rolling annual vehicle miles travelled in Great Britain, from year ending December 2019 to year ending March 2026 (from TRA2501a)

Chart 1 is a line chart showing that 343.2 billion vehicle miles were driven on Great Britain’s roads in the 12 month period ending March 2026. This was up 2.0% compared to the year ending March 2025. Motor vehicle traffic levels fell during the pandemic but have since increased. Traffic levels for the year ending March 2026 were 1.4% above pre-pandemic levels.

3. Road traffic by vehicle type

Chart 2: Share of traffic by vehicle type for the year ending March 2026 (from TRA2501a)

Chart 2 is a bar chart which shows that cars accounted for 77% of all motor vehicle traffic on Great Britain’s roads over the year ending March 2026. Therefore, cars continue to be the main contributor to changes in overall motor vehicle traffic.

The proportion of vans has increased slightly since pre-pandemic levels in 2019, accounting for 17% of all motor vehicle traffic in this 12 month period.

Lorries accounted for 5% of all motor vehicle traffic and 1% of traffic came from other motor vehicles including motorcycles and buses.

In the year ending March 2026:

• car traffic was higher than the previous year and similar to pre-pandemic levels
• van traffic was higher than the previous year and above pre-pandemic levels
• lorry traffic was lower than the previous year and below pre-pandemic levels

Table 1: Vehicle miles travelled in Great Britain by vehicle type in the year ending March 2026, and percentage change compared to previous 12 month periods (from TRA2501a)

Vehicle type	Year ending Mar 2026	Mar 2025 (previous year)	Dec 2019 (pre-pandemic)
All motor vehicles	343.2 billion	+2.0%	+1.4%
Cars and taxis	262.7 billion	+2.4%	−0.1%
Vans	59.2 billion	+1.1%	+10.6%
Lorries	16.3 billion	−1.1%	−5.0%

Table 1 shows how traffic in the year ending March 2026 compares to a selection of earlier years for different vehicle types. For example, car and taxi traffic was 2.4% higher in the year ending March 2026 than the year ending March 2025. Note that any differences between -0.5% and +0.5% are considered negligible.

3.1 Cars and taxis

Chart 3: Rolling annual vehicle miles travelled by cars and taxis in Great Britain, from year ending December 2019 to year ending March 2026 (from TRA2501a)

Chart 3 is a line chart which illustrates that cars and taxis travelled 262.7 billion vehicle miles in the 12 months ending March 2026. Car and taxi traffic rose 2.4% from the year ending March 2025. Car and taxi miles for the year ending March 2026 were unchanged compared to pre-pandemic levels.

3.2 Vans (Light Commercial Vehicles - LCVs)

Chart 4: Rolling annual vehicle miles travelled by vans in Great Britain, from year ending December 2019 to year ending March 2026 (from TRA2501a)

Chart 4 is a line chart which shows that 59.2 billion vehicle miles were driven by vans on Great Britain’s roads in the 12 month period ending March 2026. This was a rise of 1.1% compared to the year ending March 2025. Van distance travelled for the year ending March 2026 was 10.6% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

3.3 Lorries (Heavy Goods Vehicles - HGVs)

Chart 5: Rolling annual vehicle miles travelled by lorries in Great Britain, from year ending December 2019 to year ending March 2026 (from TRA2501a)

Chart 5 is a line chart showing that 16.3 billion vehicle miles were driven by lorries on Great Britain’s roads in the 12 month period ending March 2026. Lorry traffic was 1.1% below the year ending March 2025. Distance covered by lorries for the year ending March 2026 was 5.0% below pre-pandemic levels. The chart shows that the pandemic had a lesser effect on total lorry traffic than other vehicle types. Between the years ending December 2019 and December 2020, lorry traffic only fell by 5.9%, while car and van traffic fell by 24.9% and 9.2%, respectively.

4. Road traffic by road type

Chart 6: Share of traffic by road type for the year ending March 2026 (from TRA2502a)

Chart 6 is a bar chart displaying that on Great Britain’s roads, in the year ending March 2026, 21% of motor vehicle miles travelled were on motorways, 44% on ‘A’ roads, and 35% on minor roads. Despite major roads (motorways and ‘A’ roads) comprising only 13% of the road network by length, 65% of motor vehicle miles travelled were on these roads.

In the year ending March 2026:

• motorway traffic was higher than the previous year and above pre-pandemic levels
• ‘A’ road traffic was higher than the previous year and above pre-pandemic levels
• minor road traffic was higher than the previous year and above pre-pandemic levels

Table 2: Vehicle miles travelled in Great Britain by road type in the year ending March 2026 compared to previous 12 month periods (from TRA2502a)

Road type	Year ending Mar 2026	Mar 2025 (previous year)	Dec 2019 (pre-pandemic)
All roads	343.2 billion	+2.0%	+1.4%
Motorways	72.0 billion	+2.6%	+2.1%
‘A’ roads	152.0 billion	+2.0%	+1.2%
Minor roads	119.2 billion	+1.6%	+1.1%

Table 2 shows how traffic in the year ending March 2026 compares to a selection of earlier years for different road types. For example, motorway traffic was 2.6% higher in the year ending March 2026 compared to the year ending March 2025. Note that any differences between -0.5% and +0.5% are considered negligible.

4.1 Motorways

Chart 7: Rolling annual vehicle miles travelled on motorways in Great Britain, from year ending December 2019 to year ending March 2026 (from TRA2502a)

Chart 7 is a line chart illustrating that 72.0 billion vehicle miles were driven on motorways in Great Britain in the 12 month period ending March 2026. This was 2.6% above the year ending March 2025. Motorway traffic for the year ending March 2026 was 2.1% above pre-pandemic levels.

4.2 ‘A’ roads

Chart 8: Rolling annual vehicle miles travelled on ‘A’ roads in Great Britain, from year ending December 2019 to year ending March 2026 (from TRA2502a)

Chart 8 is a line chart which shows 152.0 billion vehicle miles were driven on ‘A’ roads in Great Britain in the 12 month period ending March 2026. This represents a 2.0% rise from the year ending March 2025. Traffic on ‘A’ roads for the year ending March 2026 was 1.2% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

4.3 Minor roads

Chart 9: Rolling annual vehicle miles travelled on minor roads in Great Britain, from year ending December 2019 to year ending March 2026 (from TRA2502a)

Chart 9 is a line chart showing that 119.2 billion vehicle miles were driven on minor roads in Great Britain in the 12 month period ending March 2026. This represents a 1.6% increase from the year ending March 2025. Distance travelled on minor roads for the year ending March 2026 was 1.1% above pre-pandemic levels.

5. Background information

5.1 Glossary

Term	Definition
Billion	A thousand million
Great Britain	England, Wales and Scotland
Index Number	Comparing changes over time from a selected base year, often across multiple indicators where they cannot be directly compared
Q1	Quarter 1: 1 January to 31 March. Similar for other quarters
Pre-pandemic	The year ending December 2019 is used to compare traffic estimates to pre-pandemic levels. This is to assess the change in traffic levels following the reduction due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic
Traffic	Total distance travelled by vehicles, combining the number of vehicles on the road and how far they drive
Vehicle miles	The units that traffic is measured in. For example, 3 vehicles travelling for 4 miles each would account for 12 vehicle miles worth of traffic
Lorry or HGV	A goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight
Van or LCV	A goods vehicle under 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight
Major road	Motorways and ‘A’ roads
Minor road	‘B’, ‘C’ and unclassified roads
Rural road	Roads within an area with a population of under 10,000 people in England and Wales and under 3,000 in Scotland
Urban road	Roads within an area with a population of 10,000 or more people in England and Wales and 3,000 or more in Scotland

5.2 Further information

A background quality report has been published for these statistics. The document contains information about the methodology adopted and the quality of the outputs, measured against various dimensions of statistical quality, as set out by the Code of Practice for Statistics. The background quality report is available on the road traffic statistics information page.

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in February 2013. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled accredited official statistics[footnote 1].

Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found on the pre-release access page.

To hear more about Department for Transport (DfT) statistical publications as they are released, follow us on X at DfTstats.

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8. Contact details

Road traffic and vehicle speed compliance statistics

Email roadtraff.stats@dft.gov.uk

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

1. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 ↩ ↩²