National statistics

Travel time measures for the Strategic Road Network and local ‘A’ roads: October 2019 to September 2020

Travel time statistics on the Strategic Road Network and on locally managed ‘A’ roads for the year ending September 2020.

Documents

Travel time measures for the Strategic Road Network and local ‘A’ roads: October 2019 to September 2020 tables

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Details

On the Strategic Road Network (SRN) for the year ending September 2020, the average delay is estimated to be 7.8 seconds per vehicle per mile compared to speed limits travel times, a 17.0% decrease compared to the year up to September 2019.

The average speed is estimated to be 60.6 mph, 2.9% up on the year ending September 2019.

In the year to September 2020, on average 52.5% of additional time was needed compared to speed limits travel times, on individual road sections of the SRN to ensure on time arrival. This is down 14.3 percentage points compared to the year ending September 2019, so on average a lower proportion of additional time is required.

On local ‘A’ roads for the year ending September 2020, the average delay is estimated to be 36.6 seconds per vehicle per mile compared to free flow travel times. This is a decrease of 16.1% on the year ending September 2019.

The average speed is estimated to be 26.6 mph. This is an increase of 5.1% on the year ending September 2019.

Please note a break in the statistical time series for local ‘A’ roads travel times has been highlighted beginning January 2019.

Please note that figures for the SRN and local ‘A’ roads are not directly comparable.

The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a marked impact on everyday life, including on congestion on the road network. As these data are affected by the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, caution should be taken when interpreting these statistics and comparing them with previous time periods. Although values for the speed and delay statistics are gradually returning towards their pre-lockdown values, they remain markedly different than historical trends.

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Road congestion and travel times

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Published 3 December 2020