The Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997 obliges local traffic authorities to produce a report on the levels of traffic on those roads for which it is the Highway Authority. Merton Council has recently published this report, the summary is now available on our website.

The success of Merton’s transport policies and programme is being monitored by surveys carried out consistently over a period of years. The report recently published incorporates the yearly surveys carried out since 1998. These show that at the sites surveyed, and at specific times the counts were undertaken, traffic flow and speed has decreased in the borough.

· At the 21 sites surveyed over a five day period, there was a 12.7 % overall decrease in traffic flow from 2001 to 2002.
· In 2002, the sites surveyed showed an overall net decrease in traffic speeds in residential areas served by local access and local distributor roads when compared to 2001.
· The 2002 survey shows that At the 6 sites surveyed in 2002, the car driver continues to dominate as the main mode of travel, representing 51%, followed by 25% bus passengers, 15% car passengers, 7% pedestrians, 2 % motorcyclists and 1% cyclists.

The decrease in traffic flow and speed at the sites surveyed could be down to a number of factors, including the reallocation of road space for bus or cycle routes and speed reducing measures such as road narrowing and speed humps. The London Borough of Merton has been the key stakeholder in the implementation of these measures.

For further information relating to the annual traffic and modal surveys in the LB of Merton please contact the Transport Planning section on 0208 545 4141.

Ends

PRESS CONTACT – Kirstin Rowan

Notes to Editors:

The full report can be found at http://172.16.1.220/transport/index.asp