The Freight Transport Association (FTA) is welcoming the early signs of economic recovery, however, increasing traffic volumes returning to UK roads are a warning that to allow a return to pre-recession levels of congestion could bring burdening costs to the industry and the environment and that the issue needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.
Malcolm Bingham, Head of Road Traffic Management Policy, said: “Increasing commercial traffic does indicate increasing commercial activity and, after the appalling year the logistics industry has had, it is a relief to see signs of a recovery. But if traffic returns to pre-2008 levels we will be back to square one, with heavy congestion clogging up some of our most essential arterial trade routes.”
With congestion costing the UK economy around £20 billion per year and additional costs being heaped on businesses struggling to emerge out of recession, better use of existing road infrastructure and adoption of intelligent traffic solutions that already exist on some roads must be considered as soon as possible. The environmental impact of congestion can not be overlooked, emitting thousands of tonnes of CO2 into our atmosphere.
FTA endorses the use of active traffic management measures, like hard shoulder running, as temporary ways to relieve congestion on busy trunk roads, where appropriate. However, these are only temporary measures , by the time capacity does return to saturation point longer-term solutions will need to already be in place.
Bingham concluded: “There are cost-effective and highly plausible ways that congestion can be mitigated without investing more in our transport infrastructure. A reduction in rates on the under utilised M6 toll road, for example, would relieve pressure on the M6.
“Even greater achievements in reducing road congestion can be found by integrating other modes of transport into our supply chain. One freight train can take 40 lorries off our roads for instance, so investing in rail freight terminals is another long-term solution that we need to seriously consider as the traffic starts to pile up again.”