Road traffic forecasts paint seven pictures of the future

The DfT’s new road traffic forecasts for England and Wales present the results of seven different scenario tests. All predict traffic will rise between now and 2050, but the scale of growth varies markedly. Andrew Forster reports

28 September 2018

Traffic growth will be greatest on the Strategic Road Network, says the DfT

The top table shows the main assumptions that inform each of the seven scenarios. Table two shows the forecast road traffic growth for England and Wales between 2015 and 2050 in each scenario

Road traffic volumes in England and Wales are forecast to rise by between 17 and 51 per cent from 2015 to 2050, according to the DfT’s new road traffic forecasts. This represents the lower and upper results from seven scenario tests designed to reflect the uncertainty in the key drivers of road traffic demand such as population growth, trip rates, GDP and income, the cost of driving, young people’s driving habits and licence holding, the demand for goods, and technology.

The...