According to the latest government figures, traffic on Britain's roads reached a record high for the year ending September 2016. More than 320 billion vehicle miles were travelled on the UK road network in the 12-month period, which was a 1.2 per cent increase on the previous year-on-year figure. It was also a 1.8 per cent improvement on the pre-recession peak seen in September 2007, and the figures indicate that rolling annual motor vehicle traffic has now increased for 15 successive quarters. Car traffic also increased by 0.9 per cent as part of the rise, reaching a record 249.4 billion vehicle miles. This was a 1.2 billion increase on the pre-recession peak ending in September 2007. Van traffic saw one of the biggest rises, with a new peak of 48.2bn vehicles representing a 3.8 per cent increase on the pre-recession figure. Van traffic has been a consistently high-performing area, with an average increase of 4 per cent each year. HGV also increased, reaching 17.1 billion vehicle miles; this was a 3.4 per cent increase year-on-year. On average, HGV traffic has risen by 2.3 per cent each year. This didn't represent an all-time peak, though, with the figure of 18.2 billion vehicles measured in June 2008 still the pinnacle. Road types also saw higher numbers, with motorway traffic increasing by 2.5 per cent to reach 67.7bn vehicle miles. Over the last six years, motorway traffic has continued to grow by an average of 1.7 per cent each year. 'A' road traffic increase by 2.1 per cent, largely as a result of traffic on the more rural roads of this type, which rose to 93.1 billion vehicle miles: an increase of 2.8 per cent. Urban 'A' road traffic also increased, but not as much, reaching 50.2 billion miles; a 0.9 per cent increase. Minor road traffic has continued to be stabled for the past six years, with measurements of 44.4 billion vehicle miles and 64.7 billion vehicle miles being taken from minor and urban minor roads respectively. The government figures are impacted by a number of different factors, including population, personal travel choices and demand for goods and services. It's believed that the impressive new figures stem from growth in both the population and the UK economy in the same period.
