Use of the strategic road network
Report on the frequency of use and the characteristics of users of the strategic road network.
Documents
Details
This release brings together frequency of use data for the strategic road network (SRN), for different user characteristics (taken from the ‘ONS opinions and lifestyle survey’), and for different vehicle types (taken from DfT held in-vehicle GPS data).
The paper also includes information on the length of trips on the SRN, and the levels of traffic associated with these trips (taken from DfT held in-vehicle GPS data).
As the SRN only covers roads in England, much of the analysis from the ‘ONS opinions and lifestyle survey’ is presented for England residents only.
Main results
More than 95% of England residents used the SRN at least once per year, either as a driver or passenger. Nearly half (47%) of England residents used the network at least twice per week.
The frequency of use of the SRN varied by the respondents’ region of residence, 88% of those living in the north west used the network at least once per month, compared to 71% of London residents.
HGVs are frequent users of the SRN, with 71% of HGVs in the DfT in-vehicle GPS sample were ‘frequent’ users of the SRN using the network at least twice per week, compared to 62% of LGVs, and just 2 in 5 (43%) of the cars in the sample.
Trip lengths varied by SRN road type:
- of trips involving the SRN motorway, 60% covered more than 10 miles on the SRN motorway
- while 20% of trips that included SRN ‘A’ roads travelled more than 10 miles on SRN ‘A’ roads
- of trips that used the SRN at some point, the proportion of the journey that was driven on SRN roads increased as the total journey length increased
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