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TSUG NEWS

TRANSPORT STATISTICS USERS GROUP Issue No. 63: October 2003

Contents

Editorial / 1
Publications
Vehicle licensing statistics 2002
Transport of goods by road in GB 2002
Provisional port statistics 2002
Focus on freight 2003 edition
Vehicle speeds in Great Britain 2002
Bus quality indicators: Q4, 2002/2003
Road traffic statistics for Great Britain 2002
Traffic in Great Britain – Q2 2003
Attitudes to walking and cycling
Light Rail passenger journeys: England 2002/03
Road goods vehicles to mainland Europe
Foreign vehicle activity in the UK, 2003
Sea passenger statistics, Q2 2003
Road casualties Great Britain 2002
Key 2002 road accident statistics (Scotland)
Scottish transport statistics / 1
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2
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4
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5
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6
7
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8
News
DfT’s first annual report / 9
Seminars
Statistics for airport planning: sources and uses
Key Performance Indicators for LTPs / 9
10
New Forest animal road casualties / 12
News of members / 12
Dates for your diary / 13
Next newsletter / 13
Appendix: future DfT statistical publications / 14

Editorial

Many apologies for the delay to this newsletter. This has been due to a number of factors, not least a highly vexatious series of problems with my computer, which I hope will be sorted out while I am away on holiday in mid-October.

Because of the delay I have more material than can reasonably be accommodated in this newsletter. I therefore propose to issue its successor with a rather shorter gap than usual, in particular to include additional seminar reports.

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Publications

Vehicle Licensing Statistics 2002

This report, published in May by the Department for Transport, provides new statistics on the number of licensed vehicles in Great Britain in 2002. Some of the main points are:

·  Overall vehicle stock continues to rise as it has done since 1992 and now stands at more than 30 million, nearly 26 million of which are cars

·  Between 2001 and 2002, total stock rose by 1 - 4% for cars, goods vehicles and buses. The number of licensed motorcycles increased by nearly 7%, continuing the sharp rises seen since 1997

·  The number of diesel cars has continued to increase sharply, by some 13% since 2001. Diesel cars now represent over 15% of the total stock of cars, compared with under 5% 10 years ago

·  Just over half of cars first registered in 1990 were still licensed at the end of 2002, compared with 22% of motorcycles and 29% of goods vehicles.

·  The total number of newly registered vehicles in 2002 was slightly higher than in 2001, at 3.2 million. More than 80% of these were cars

·  The number of new car registrations increased by just under 4% and accounted for the whole of the increase between 2001 and 2002

·  A third of all new registrations are made in the peak months of March and September when the new licence plates are issued.

You can get copies of this report from: DfT, TSR4, 2/16 Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR, and from

Transport of Goods by Road in Great Britain 2002

This annual bulletin, published in May, shows that total freight moved by GB-registered heavy goods vehicles within Great Britain rose by 0.3% from 149 billion tonne kilometres in 2001 to 150 billion tonne kilometres in 2002. Other key findings include:

·  tonnes lifted rose by 2.9% from 1,581 million tonnes in 2001 to 1,627 million tonnes in 2002

·  the average length of haul fell by 2 km between 2001 and 2002, to 92 km

·  the total number of vehicle kilometres was almost unchanged over the past year: 22,207 million km in 2001 and 22,159 million km in 2002

·  the growth of tonne kilometres (24% between 1992 and 2002) was less than that of GDP (32%).

The Continuing Survey of Road Goods Transport (CSRGT) is based on a weekly sample of heavy goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight. In 2002, questionnaires recording the activity of each vehicle during one week were sent to the registered keepers of about 19,000 vehicles.

The Bulletin is available from DfT on 020 7944 4442.

Provisional Port Statistics 2002

Provisional statistics issued in May by the DfT show that freight traffic through UK ports fell in 2002.

·  Total freight traffic fell by eight million tonnes (Mt) to 558 Mt in 2002, 1% down on 2001

·  Inwards traffic fell by 8 Mt to 320 Mt while outwards traffic was virtually unchanged at 238 Mt

·  Freight traffic through the 52 major UK ports (accounting for 97% of total UK port traffic in 2002) reached 542 Mt, down 8 Mt on 2001

·  Grimsby and Immingham maintained its position as the UK’s leading port in 2002 with 56.1 Mt, 1.3 Mt up on 2001, followed by London with 51.2 Mt, 0.5 Mt up on 2001

·  The top ten ports in 2002 in terms of tonnage were Grimsby and Immingham; London; Tees and Hartlepool; Forth; Milford Haven; Southampton; Liverpool; Sullom Voe; Felixstowe; and Dover.

Final figures, together with more detailed results, will be published in the annual report, Maritime Statistics 2002, due out in October. These provisional statistics are based on returns which port authorities and other undertakings are required to complete. Where necessary the figures include estimates for returns not yet received, or which require further validation.

Copies of the provisional statistics are available from the Maritime Statistics Branch in DfT (tel: 020 7944 3087) or from the Transport Statistics website http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_control/documents/contentservertemplate/dft_index.hcst?n=7099&l=4

Focus on Freight 2003 Edition

The second edition of Focus on Freight was published in June. It is designed to bring together previously published information about the freight and logistics industry in Great Britain and highlight some of the key issues in chart form. The publication is also available in the Transport Statistics domain of the DfT website (http://www.transtat.dft.gov.uk/).

It presents an overview and analysis of trends (in most cases) over the ten years to 2001, with a longer perspective for some series where this is helpful. Some significant features highlighted in the report are:

·  The economy continues to be less freight intensive. Apart from a brief period in the late 1970s, freight transport has grown more slowly than GDP

·  Despite the dominance of road freight for the movement of goods, lorry traffic has been increasing more slowly than GDP

·  The movement of goods is dominated by road transport, which in 2001 accounted for 63% of goods (tonne-kms) moved and 81% of tonnes lifted

·  Rail has increased its share of goods moved, and is the major mode for the movement of coal and coke. Water continues to dominate the movement of crude petroleum and petroleum products

·  The stock of heavy goods vehicles has changed little, but with a shift to articulated vehicles

·  Sea continues to be the dominant mode for UK international trade. Freight traffic through the Channel Tunnel has expanded rapidly since it opened in 1994. Although doubling in ten years, the volume of freight handled at UK airports is relatively small, but does have a high value

·  The number of goods vehicles travelling between the UK and mainland Europe has continued to grow

·  Heavy goods vehicles consume about one sixth of all tonnes of oil equivalent consumed by transport. There has been some improvement in heavy goods vehicle kilometres travelled per tonne of oil equivalent in recent years

·  Total NOx and particulate emissions from road goods transport are forecast to reduce substantially by 2025

·  Despite increasing traffic, the number of deaths in accidents involving heavy goods vehicles fell from 782 in 1991 to 575 in 2001. Over the same period the number of people killed or seriously injured in these accidents fell by 29%

·  Speeding is significant in urban areas with a 30 mph limit, and on non-urban single carriageway roads.

Focus on Freight is published, price £33.00, by TSO on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Vehicle Speeds in Great Britain 2002

Figures published in June show that the proportion of motorists exceeding the speed limit fell in 2002. However, driving in excess of the speed limit remains at a high level on all types of road. The proportion of car drivers exceeding the 30 mph limit fell from 65% in 2001 to 59% in 2002, and the proportion of motor- cyclists exceeding the 30 mph limit fell from 59 to 47%

Data were collected at 36 sites where a 30 or 40 mph limit applies, and at 62 other sites. The sites were selected so that speeds were not seriously constrained by either road layout or traffic congestion. The speeds were recorded as vehicles passed over an automatic counter, and do not represent speeds over a longer distance. They do, however, provide an accurate indication of compliance with speed limits.

The main features of the new statistics are:

·  On roads with a 30 mph speed limit 59% of cars exceeded that limit, 25% travelling faster than 35 mph. In 2001, 65% exceeded the 30 mph limit whilst 32% travelled faster than 35 mph. On 40 mph roads 27% of cars exceeded the limit, with 10% exceeding 45 mph. The comparable figures for 2001 were 25% and 8%, respectively

·  On 30 mph roads, 24% of motorcycles were travelling at more than 35 mph compared with 35% in 2001

·  There was a high incidence of speeding by heavy goods vehicles on built-up 30 mph roads, where 55% of 2-axle heavy goods vehicles exceeded the speed limit, 23% by more than 5 mph.

·  More than half the cars on motorways and 46% of cars on dual carriageways travelled faster than the speed limit; 18% were travelling faster than 80 mph on motorways and 14% on dual carriageways

·  The proportion of motorcycles travelling at more than 80 mph on motorways increased from 18% in 2001 to 27% in 2002; on dual carriageways the proportion increased from 13 to 26%

·  On major, non-built-up single carriageway roads, 68% of articulated HGVs were exceeding their 40 mph limit (15% by more than 10 mph), and their average speed was 44 mph - close to the average speed of cars (47 mph), for which the limit on these roads is 60 mph.

These figures, and further details, are obtainable from: The Department for Transport, TSR1 Branch, Zone 2/14, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR, or requests by email to

Bus Quality Indicators: Quarter 4, 2002/2003

The main findings from the latest bus passenger satisfaction survey, January-March 2003, were:

·  The average satisfaction score given by passengers for the bus journey just completed was 80 out of 100 in England and 82 in Metropolitan areas and Shire areas outside London

·  In London the average score was 77 out of 100, unchanged from a year ago. For England as a whole, the average satisfaction score was also unchanged compared with January-March 2002

·  The highest satisfaction rating in London was for information provided on the bus, with an average rating of 85 out of 100. In Metropolitan and Shire areas passengers were most satisfied with on bus safety and driver behaviour

·  Satisfaction with information at the bus stop averaged 62 for England compared with 72 in London. The England figure was a two point improvement on a year ago

·  Satisfaction with bus service reliability averaged 66 out of 100 in London, one point better than a year ago. In Metropolitan areas the average rating was 60, two points lower compared with a year ago, and for Shire areas 63, a two point increase over the same period. The average rating for England as a whole was unchanged at 63

The bus passenger satisfaction survey has now been running for three full years since it was introduced in April-June 2000. Additional analysis is included in this bulletin of the results over the three years. Annual results show that:

·  The average satisfaction score for overall service in 2002/03 was 80 out of 100 in England and 82 in Metropolitan and Shire areas outside London.

·  In London, where the survey takes place continuously and the bus passengers tend to be younger and have higher expectations, the average satisfaction score in 2002/03 was 76, two points higher than in 2000/01

·  In England, the average satisfaction rating was higher in 2002/03 than in 2000/01 for 18 out of the 19 aspects of service.

Other findings include:

·  The average age of the bus fleet used mainly for local services (some 34,500 vehicles) was 7.5 years at 1 July 2002. Figures from the DVLA covering the whole bus and coach fleet (nearly 94,000 vehicles), give an average age of 8.2 years at the end of March 2003

·  The bus service reliability survey found that 98.6% of scheduled local bus mileage in England was completed, slightly less than one year ago. Mileage completed in London fell from 97.2% a year ago to 96.8% in the latest quarter. Outside London, 99.0% of scheduled mileage was completed, the same as in January-March 2002.

The full details released in June are obtainable from: Department for Transport, Transport Statistics Personal Travel, Room 2/17, Great Minster House,
76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR

Road Traffic Statistics for Great Britain: 2002

Figures published in July by the DfT confirmed that estimated traffic levels rose by 2.5% between 2001 and 2002. This figure partly reflects the impact of the Foot and Mouth outbreak on traffic in 2001. The underlying rate of growth is estimated to be between 1 and 2%.