England's traffic volumes have exceeded their pre-recession peak, according to new statistics published by the Department for Transport (DfT).
The figures estimate that 271.1 billion vehicle miles were driven on the country’s roads in 2015, exceeding the previous peak of 269.9 billion vehicle miles in 2007.
Traffic was shared broadly equally across the Strategic Road Network, local authority major roads, and local authority minor roads.
A total of 89.7 billion vehicle miles were travelled on Highways England’s motorways and 'A' roads, with 87.8 and 93.6 billion vehicle miles respectively on council major and minor roads.
However, despite carrying nearly a third of total traffic, Highways England’s 4,443 miles of road represents around 5% of the national total of 187,951 miles.
The DfT has also published new travel time statistics and analysis for both the strategic road network (SRN) and local authority 'A' roads.
The average speed on the SRN in the year to March was estimated to be 59.3mph, with an average delay of 8.9 seconds per vehicle per mile compared to free flow. On the SRN, 66% of additional time was needed compared to free flow, on average, on individual road sections to ensure arrival on time.
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