DfT rejects ‘peak car’ hypothesis and predicts return to traffic growth

After decades of relentless growth the last ten years have seen road traffic volumes first stabilise and then decline. But the DfT believes this is just a temporary blip and that growth will soon resume. Andrew Forster looks at the new National Road Traffic Forecasts

Click to view: Historic and forecast road traffic and vehicle emissions in England. Source: NTM 2011, DfT Statistics, NAEI

Click to view: Historic and forecast road traffic and vehicle emissions in England. Source: NTM 2011, DfT Statistics, NAEI

ROAD TRAFFIC volumes in England are likely to grow by almost 50% over the next 25 years, according to the DfT’s new National Road Traffic Forecasts (NRTF). The headline forecast is that road traffic will rise from 261.2bn vehicle miles in 20101 to 375.6bn in 2035. This 44% growth is a central estimate, between the low growth of 34% (to 349.8bn miles) and the high growth of 55% (to 405bn miles).

NRTF used to cover Great Britain but in an age of devolved administrations the forecasts cover...

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