While your daily commute to work may still seem a little quieter than pre-pandemic times, a new report suggests that the roads are getting back to their busiest following lockdown relaxation.
Data released by the Department for Transport showed that this week vehicle numbers on Britain’s roads was at 88 per cent of pre-COVID levels, a four per cent rise on the previous week. The figures clearly demonstrate that while some people are still working from home, or on different shift patterns, the nation is getting back to work as vans (97 per cent) and lorries (99 per cent) were almost fully back to their normal levels.
However, it appears that government advice of avoiding public transport wherever possible remains in place, with train travel only at 22 per cent of its normal capacity, bus travel at 33 per cent and London Underground usage at 23 per cent.
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: “The national figures suggest that we are fast heading for pre-lockdown traffic levels in the round, but not necessarily at the same times of day.
“With many office staff still working from home, schools only re-opening to a limited extent and delivery vans stopping us driving to the high street, we’ve escaped the full misery of the morning rush hour.
In terms of lorry traffic it’s almost as if Coronavirus didn’t happen, with volumes staying close to pre-lockdown levels throughout. What’s interesting is the extent to which van traffic has come back, which could be good news for the economy and for congestion if those vans aren’t heading into town in the rush hour but are instead making home deliveries throughout the day and into the evening.”