Summary statistics
356.5 billion miles were driven on Great Britain’s roads in 2019, similar (a 0.3% increase) to the previous year.
Road traffic by vehicle type
| Time period: | 1993 to 2019 |
| Source: | Road traffic estimates in Great Britain: 2019 |
278.2 bvm
Cars and taxis
55.5 bvm
Light commerical vehicles
17.4 bvm
Heavy goods vehicles
3.5 bvm
Pedal cycles
2.4 bvm
Buses and coaches
3.0 bvm
Motorcycles
The main facts and figures show that:
- Car traffic increased by 2.2% from 2018 levels. The figure of 278.2 billion vehicle miles (bvm) is the highest annual estimate ever of car traffic.
- Van traffic grew by 2.0% from 2018 to 55.5 bvm, a new peak level for van traffic.
- Lorry traffic remained broadly stable compared to 2018, at 17.4 bvm.
- Pedal cycle traffic (cyclists on public highways, and the paths adjacent to them) was 3.5 bvm, 16.4% above ten years ago.
Traffic estimates for the period since 2010 have been revised to take into account the minor road benchmarking exercise. Further details available on GOV.UK: Road traffic statistics: minor road benchmarking
Traffic by road type
| Time period: | 1993 to 2019 |
| Source: | Road traffic estimates in Great Britain: 2019 |
The main facts and figures show that:
- Motorways carried 69.0 bvm of traffic, broadly stable (0.5% increase) compared to 2017, and 10.9% more than ten years ago
- The Strategic Road Network carried 94.7 bvm of traffic (a new high); one-third of all motorised traffic in England
- 'A' roads saw a 1.4% rise in traffic from 2017
- Minor road traffic decreased 1.3% since 2017
Traffic estimates for the period since 2010 have been revised to take into account the minor road benchmarking exercise. Further details available on GOV.UK: Road traffic statistics: minor road benchmarking
Annual traffic across Great Britain
Data downloads
Download street-level traffic figures for all regions, local authorities and count point locations.
- Annual average daily flow
- Annual average daily flow by direction
- Raw counts