Private Transport - Road Traffic

High Level Summary of Statistics Trend Last update: Friday, September 23, 2011

Road Traffic

The total volume of traffic on Scotland's roads was 43,488 million vehicle-kilometres in 2010 - a decrease of 1.7 per cent on 2009.

Motorways accounted for 15 per cent of all traffic in 2010, trunk A roads for 22 per cent, local authority A roads for 28 per cent, B roads for 9 per cent, C roads for 6 per cent and unclassified roads for 19 per cent.

Cars accounted for 77 per cent of the traffic on Scotland's roads in 2010, light goods vehicles for 14 per cent, heavy goods vehicles for 6 per cent, buses for 1.4 per cent, motorcycles for 0.7 per cent and pedal cycles for 0.6 per cent.

Traffic volume on Scotland's roads has tended to increase steadily - an overall increase of 15 per cent since 1996 The slight dip in 2000 was due to the fuel price protests. The volume of traffic on Motorways has grown by 42 per cent since 1996, in part due to the expansion of the Motorway network.

Estimates for major roads (Motorways and A roads) show the volume of traffic on major roads has doubled between 1983 and 2010 - growth being more rapid for Motorways than for A roads (due in part to the expansion of the Motorway network).

Road traffic  (million vehicle kilometres) 1997-2010

View chart data

Source: Scottish Transport Statistics

Further Information

Page updated: Friday, October 07, 2011