8.14 Indicators and Targets for Reducing Congestion

Mandatory Indicator LTP2: Changes in Area Wide Road Traffic

Area-wide road traffic mileage targets will meet or where possible exceed national targets under Mandatory Indicator LTP2.

• Overall mileage on the roads which Lancashire County Council is responsible for will be restricted to 5% growth over the LTP2 period.

LTP2 assesses the area wide vehicle kilometres for Lancashire. The figures are based on the methodology recommended by the Department for Transport and will provide a robust indicator of year to year change.

Traffic data is collected by Lancashire County Council from automatic traffic counters, 65% of them being continuous collection sites which give higher quality data. At the other sites, counters are deployed for a fortnight at a time, which provides sufficiently robust data. The data set records traffic flow through the 120 individual data collection sites. The sample is evenly distributed across Lancashire's 12 districts covering a full range of urban, suburban and rural areas and contains A, B, C and unclassified road types. The data set does not include Motorways and Trunk Roads.

Taking the base year as 2004, an estimated total for the entire network in Lancashire has been calculated showing an increase of 4.5% in total vehicle kilometres in 2005.

Disaggregating the data by road type reveals a slight increase in vehicle kilometres on A roads and unclassified roads, with a more significant increase on B roads and C roads. This is consistent with the national trend of A roads being generally more congested and drivers using B roads and C roads as alternative routes.

A comparison has also been made with a calculation based solely on the Department for Transport National Road Traffic Survey for the years 2000 to 2004. The data collected by the DfT will be monitored and compared with the new indicator in the Annual Progress Reports.

Table 8.14a Road Traffic in Lancashire

Indicator LTP2 Area-wide Road Traffic in Lancashire
Road Type	Million vehicle kilometres		Change (%)
	2004	2005
A (non-Trunk Roads)	2,710	2,838	4.7
B	1,071	1,152	7.5
C	1,863	2,171	16.5
U	8,595	8,723	1.5
Total	14,240	14,884	4.5
Lancashire (DfT)i	11,180	Not available

Indicator LTP2 Trajectory

The LTP2 data for 2004 and 2005 has been used to define the trajectory. A comparison is also made with the DfT data over recent years. Traffic on roads in Lancashire increased by 4% in 2004 according to DfT figures and by 4.5% in 2005 measured by Lancashire County Council figures.

The following table and graph illustrate the changes. The ‘do nothing’ trajectory using LTP2 for 2004 to 2005 indicates that traffic on Lancashire’s roads has increased by 4.5% over the last year. The ‘do something’ trajectory reduces the rate of increase year by year to a flatter profile by the end of the LTP2 period.

Table 8.14b Road Traffic Trajectory

Indicator LTP2 Area-wide Road Traffic Trajectory (5 change from base year)
	Historic DfT figures				2004 Base year	2005 (Observed)	Trajectory						% Increase per year
	2000	2001	2002	2003			2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	Min	Max	Ave
DfT figures for Lancashire	-8	-6	-4	-4	0								0	4
County roads in Lancashire					0	4.5							4.5	4.5
Lancashire (do nothing)					0	4.5	9	13.5	18	22.5	27	31.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Lancashire (do something)							8	11	13.5	15.5	17.5	19	1.5	4.5	2.4

Figure 8.14

8.14.1 Congestion (Average Vehicle Delay)

Congestion is to be monitored on corridors in Preston and Lancaster and area-wide for Lancashire as a whole. Congestion is being monitored using data collected from vehicles using global positioning systems and has been purchased from a private company (ITIS) who have the rights to this data. Individual journeys cannot be identified from this data.

The only area within Lancashire where congestion monitoring is requested by the LTP guidance is Preston. However we are also using the new ITIS data to monitor congestion levels throughout Lancashire and we will focus particularly on Lancaster where we have a major scheme bid to deal with the problems of congestion.

Base year for this indicator was to have been 2003, however the data for Lancashire in 2003 was too limited to give reasonable indications of congestion so our proposed base year is 2004. The analysis uses the DfT methodology. The ITIS has not yet been validated and so the analysis results should not be treated as provisional.  As the volume of ITIS data increases with the forecast growth in the use of global positioning systems, results will become more reliable. Historical journey time data from the previous LTP has also been used to support the analysis.The reported indicator will be the average vehicle delay during the neutral weekday morning peak period (seconds lost per vehicle travelling one kilometre on a link), calculated as specified in the technical guidance on monitoring the LTP2 mandatory indicators.

8.14.2 Monitoring Congestion in Lancashire

The following plan indicates the percentage change from free flow conditions for an average vehicle to travel one kilometre on Lancashire's roads for the morning peak period (7:00-10:00am). The plan inserts show details of Preston and Lancaster for the morning peak hour of 8:00-9:00. Congestion on Lancashire's roads will be monitored in subsequent Annual Progress Reports.

Figure 8.14.2 Percentage Change From Free Flow Conditions

The following table is a Lancashire summary of the ITIS data for period 2004-2005. Analysed data includes average vehicle speeds for a number of time periods on A, B and other road types excluding motorways. This county wide monitoring will be updated within the Annual Progress Reports.

Table 8.14.2 Average Vehicle Speeds

Observed Lancashire Average Speed per Road Type (kph)
Road Class	Speed Limit (mph)	Length (km)	Free Flow			7:00-10:00			08:00-09:00
			85	Mean	15	85	Mean	15	85	Mean	15
A	30	21,880	60.2	47.4	33.8	50.6	38.6	26.0	48.6	36.8	24.4
	40	10,122	67.9	51.5	34.7	57.1	40.6	25.9	55.6	38.4	23.8
	50	2,579	77.6	65.6	50.7	68.3	57.0	42.8	67.8	55.8	39.9
	60	34,181	79.6	65.1	51.3	70.5	57.1	44.9	69.8	55.6	42.6
	70	3,835	95.8	79.5	58.5	84.9	67.3	44.0	85.3	66.3	40.1
B	30	14,063	55.7	45.3	33.5	47.2	37.3	26.9	46.0	35.7	25.3
	40	1,712	68.8	55.0	34.9	61.0	45.3	26.4	59.8	44.3	26.4
	60	17,544	68.8	57.2	45.6	59.9	50.9	41.5	59.3	49.7	40.4
Other	30	29,233	58.3	45.0	28.4	48.8	37.4	24.2	47.6	36.1	23.3
	40	652	64.4	49.7	31.1	52.7	43.2	30.9	53.2	43.1	29.0
	60	56,142	71.4	57.4	40.7	60.9	49.9	38.0	60.0	49.0	37.1

Source: ITIS Data

8.14.3 Preston Corridors and Surrounding Area

The following map shows the corridors on which congestion is monitored in Preston.  The table indicates the level of congestion on these corridors. The area of interest extends beyond the Preston area to include the full impact of congestion .It includes roads of strategic importance and those with flows of more than 10,000 vehicles per day. Congestion has been calculated using the method set out by the DfT. Congestion on Preston's roads will be monitored in subsequent Annual Progress Reports. A Preston trajectory will be produced upon the data being validated.

Figure 8.14.3 Preston Corridors

Table 8.14.3

Congestion Levels on Major Corridors in Preston
Corridor No	Name	Length	7:00-10:00			8:00-9:00			Free Flow
			Ave. speed		Delay	Ave. Speed		Delay	Speed
			kph	mph	s/km/veh	kph	mph	s/km/veh	kph	mph
1	A6 Garstang Road	8.52	30.1	18.7	27.6	29.6	18.4	29.6	39.2	24.4
2	B6241 Eastway	12.66	37.1	23.1	18.6	35.2	21.9	23.9	46.0	28.6
3	B6243 Ribbleton Avenue	8.63	29.8	18.5	31.7	28.4	17.6	37.8	40.4	25.1
4	A59 New Hall Lane	6.81	30.6	19.0	46.9	27.3	17.0	61.0	50.9	31.6
5	A6 London Road	11.41	37.3	23.2	27.1	32.7	20.3	40.6	51.8	32.2
6	B5254 Leyland Road	8.67	32.9	20.4	33.9	28.0	17.4	53.0	47.7	29.6
7	A582 Golden/Guild Way	8.90	34.7	21.5	31.1	25.3	15.7	69.5	49.5	30.8
8	A59 Liverpool Road	4.93	32.4	20.2	44.8	27.6	17.1	64.5	54.4	33.8
9	A583 Riversway	7.84	41.9	26.0	10.0	21.4	13.3	92.4	47.3	29.4
10	A5085 Blackpool Road	15.72	32.2	20.0	21.8	30.9	19.2	26.6	40.0	24.8
11	B6241 Tom Benson Way	15.14	38.9	24.2	22.7	34.7	21.6	34.0	51.6	32.1

Source: ITIS Data

8.14.4 Lancaster Corridors and Surrounding Area

The following map shows the corridors on which congestion is to be monitored in Lancaster.  The table indicates the level of congestion on these corridors. The monitored network includes the city centre gyratory and other roads of strategic importance and will be extended to include all routes with flows of more than 10,000 vehicles per day. Congestion on Lancaster's roads will be monitored in subsequent Annual Progress Reports.

Figure 8.14.4 Lancaster Corridors

Table 8.14.4

Congestion Levels on Major Corridors in Lancaster
Corridor No	Name	Length	7:00-10:00				8:00-9:00				Free Flow
			Ave. speed		Delay		Ave. speed		Delay		Speed
			kph	mph	Delay	s/km/v	kph	mph	Delay	s/km/v	kph	mph
1	Gyratory	4.98	25.6	15.9	247.2	49.6	23.0	14.3	325.3	65.3	39.5	24.5
2	A6 (N)	2.57	30.8	19.2	99.7	38.8	28.2	17.5	127.7	49.7	46.2	28.7
3	A683 Caton Road	4.54	35.2	21.9	163.3	36.0	31.4	19.5	219.8	48.4	54.3	33.7
4	A589 Morecambe Road	3.06	27.6	17.1	189.8	62.1	23.2	14.4	265.7	86.9	52.6	32.7
5	A6 Scotforth Road	5.71	33.2	20.6	230.3	40.3	31.8	19.7	258.2	45.2	52.9	32.9

Source: ITIS Data

1. Source: Department for Transport National Road Traffic Survey 'Estimated traffic flows for all motor vehicles by local authority: North West 1994-2004'.

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