Bumper to Bumper

I have just done a bit of background research in order to try to make some sense of my own observations and experiences.

The subject matter is important to me as I spend a good proportion of my working day doing it.

I am talking, of course, about motoring.

This is not from the point of view of discussing performance, fuel economy and safety of vehicles in general but trying to understand why one minute I can be bowling along with not another car or truck in sight and the next I am stationary in some forsaken traffic queue with no apparent reason for it.

In carrying out my job I can be in the car for an accumulated daily total of around 6 hours and on average, and even just around the home territory I can easily tot up in excess of 100 and more miles.

From my unique mobile vantage point I can witness and study behavioural traits and trends amongst my fellow travellers . I often wonder where they are going and why.

Here are a few statistics for the UK released in 2017 and therefore covering the 12 months prior which will help to explain many aspects of what is seen out and about on the nation's highways and byways.

It is hard to comprehend but according to passenger mileage statistics the last period in which it was recorded was the highest in history at a mind boggling 497 billion miles. Over 80% of these journeys were by car, van or taxi although it is interesting that the average distance per journey was only about 60 miles. This is not fully explained by just the journey to work as the UK average outside of London is some 25 minutes (London is a huge 46 minutes) therefore equating at normally achievable built up area road speeds to around 10 to 15 miles but more by the fact that of the huge total mileage - over a quarter is attributable to leisure purposes such as visiting friends, sports, holidays and pleasure trips. Only 19% were in fact from commuting.

There are of course other modes of transport other than a car or van and stuck in a traffic jam I have felt jealousy over a fast moving cyclist, a bus with the freedom of its designated lane and even the 10% of commuters who do so on foot. It is quite embarrassing nodding or waving at someone on the footpath from the car only for them to keep good pace and even beat you to the end of the street if you are stuck in traffic.

We may feel that our cars are a cost effective way to travel and I agree if like me your journeys are wide ranging and with no options available to take an alternative mode but there are quite high daily running costs over and above fuel, road tax and insurance. Those insipid fumes that find their way into the car air intake system are some of the 24% of all greenhouse gases coming from car emissions. That is an increase from just 15% in 1990.

There has not, surprisingly, over the same almost three decades been a tangible increase in the 58% of total domestic transport greenhouse gas emissions from road transport which may indicate a slow turning of the tide in controlling and eventually reducing these harmful substances.

On the downside the proportion of emissions from vans has increased in the same period. These figures relate to potentially global effects whereas in the UK most air pollutants which affect all of us have more than halved since 1990. This is down to the ban of leaded petrol and the removal of sulphur from road fuel but critically and of significant concern to our oxygen intake this excludes particulate matter.

I am sorry to say that I drive a diesel car but then again a good proportion of the UK road users, around 12.1 million were incentivised to buy a diesel powered vehicle.

Developments in the fuel efficiency of cars has continued a long term decrease in fuel consumption and there are more options available to the motorist including bio fuels, hybrid and electric. This must be more widespread and within most budgets.  UK households in 2016 allowed for some 13.7% of their weekly expenditure on transport .

As a indication of future trends some 40% more ultra low emission vehicles were registered in 2016 than the previous year.

You cannot help but have noticed what appears to be an upsurge in the numbers of lorries and trucks on our roads. A huge 76% of UK freight is moved by road and the top three commodities are food, waste related products and, unexpectedly, metal ore and other products of mining and quarrying. Those big piles of road chippings to be seen in lay-by's may make up a big proportion of this.

Living in a Port Town with a roll on roll off ferry terminal makes the sighting of a European lorry registration very common indeed. I have often been sat in traffic behind or alongside articulated trucks from Rumania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and farther afield. In fact the flow of goods vehicles is as much from the UK to mainland Europe as that we perceive from our own observations.

In 2016 three million vehicles including 0.7 million unaccompanied trailers made that crossing. It is not just a commercial trading thing either as in the same period some 5.8 million cars were handled at UK ports of which 52% of them went to or from France.

My car is also my personal mobile office space and so I would find it difficult to adjust to using public transport for this reason, notwithstanding the pattern of my daily workload which would in no way conform to existing timetables or public transport routes.

However, 4941 million local bus journeys were taken in 2016, 1731 million rail journeys and a new record of 273 million on light rail and tram systems.

The Taxi. You have to love them or hate them. I can respect their revenue driven motivation but when they either drive too fast or annoyingly slow there is potential for a bit of a confrontation on the roads. The number of licenced taxis saw an increase by 16% in 2017 to a total of 281,000. I seem to think most of them work in my home city.

It is a fact of our dispersed urban, suburban and rural lives that we will have to continue to rely on the car as our principal means of getting out and about for just about everything. I do like to leave the car untouched over a weekend at least and make my way about on foot, by bike or other means. That was a reason for a family flit some 5 years ago now into the city from the sleepy suburbs and I can recommend it as a lifestyle change.

Another contentious issue is the condition of the roads in this country. There are some interesting facts on this as well.

A wopping 87% (by mileage) of our roads are classified as minor rural and urban but these carry only 35% of all traffic. The "A" roads in our towns and countryside are the ones that really take a battering as although only 12% of the total road distance they carry 44% of traffic. In stark contrast the motorway network accounts for only 1% by length and carries 21% of traffic. To avoid potholes and congestion it seems that backroads are the best.

I find it amusing when those caught up in a traffic jam, when interviewed, express regret at losing a few hours of their lives when in fact it is a miniscule proportion of their time. The average delay from congestion on the strategic road network in the UK in 2016 was 9 seconds per vehicle per mile and increasing to 45.9 seconds on local main roads.

The cost to families and communities from fatalities and injuries cannot be underestimated. Although the trend has been a decline since the 1950's the most serious incidents have levelled out in the last decade suggesting that more needs to be done to promote safe and responsible driving.

In spite of recessionary and uncertain economic times the number of new vehicles registered in 2016 was 3.3 million which was a record figure. These added to the total of 37.3 million licenced vehicles on GB roads of which 30.9 million are cars. Existing vehicles coming under the MOT, that is those over 3 years old, number some 30.4 million of the total and 73% of cars pass the test and continue to use the road.

Driving Test Passes have been broadly stable for the last 5 years at 47% although 1.7 million tests in 2016/17 represented a 13% increase from the previous 12 months.

The source and inspiration for revolutionary changes in our motoring habits must come from a number of influences. The Government in the UK harvested £28 billion in fuel duty revenue in 2016 as well as for the same period £6 billion in road tax and so may not be the first to make sweeping policy decisions to benefit us all.

Plenty to think about when negotiating that rush hour gridlock there then.

(source; Department of Transport. Transport Statistics 2017)