Travel time measures for the Strategic Road Network and local ‘A’ roads: July 2019 – June 2020

Organisation: Department for Transport
Date uploaded: 22nd September 2020
Date published/launched: September 2020

Average speed on the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in England rose to a record high during lockdown, this statistical bulletin shows.

The bulletin looks at average speed and congestion in the year to June 2020 – providing a clear indication of the impact of Covid-19.

During April, when the COVID-19 lockdown was at its peak and traffic fell to below 40% of what is to be expected, average speeds on the SRN rose to 65.3mph – the highest since April 2015, when the Government first started collecting data.

By way of comparison, the average speed on the SRN in April 2019 was 59.9mph – and in February 2020 was as low as 58.5mph.

The gradual easing of lockdown saw speeds begin to drop – with an average of 64.7mph in May and 63.8mph in June.

However, these figures remain above the average for the year to June 2020 – 59.6mph.

Meanwhile in April, average delay on the SRN more than halved compared to the level estimated for the same period without the impact of the Covid-19 on travel.

This has led to a yearly fall of 8.5% – down to 8.6 seconds per vehicle per mile.

External links: Access the statistical release via the GOV.Uk website