A new report from the SYSC Residential Energy and Transport Systems theme has looked to provide insight into how much traffic passing through each of the four South Yorkshire Local Authorities is generated inside and outside of the region. It has found that a majority of traffic within South Yorkshire is generated by journeys that start and end within the region.
Data used was collected by The Floow via car-mounted devices. It has been used to track origin-destination journeys made on weekdays, referring to vehicles that have transited through South Yorkshire regardless of their origin and destination, that could be within or outside South Yorkshire.
The research considered five regions, one for each of the region's local authorities and one for South Yorkshire as a whole. Journeys were grouped into four categories:
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Outside/outside: journeys both start and end outside the region (Local Authority or South Yorkshire),
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Inside/inside: journeys both start and end inside the region,
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Inside/outside: journeys start inside the region but end outside,
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Outside/inside: journeys start outside the region but end inside.
The reports key findings are that the majority of traffic within South Yorkshire is generated by journeys that both start and end within the region. The data shows that journeys that pass through the region account for the least amount of South Yorkshire's traffic.
Key Findings
- The majority (84.1%) of all commuting traffic in South Yorkshire is seen to be generated by journeys that start and end internally. The least amount of traffic (3.8%) is generated by journeys passing through the region. This suggests that the majority of commuting traffic in South Yorkshire may be controlled by local interventions and behavioural changes of residents regarding transportation modes.
- The majority of traffic within each of the four South Yorkshire LAs is generated internally (mean 60.7%), suggesting that most residents are likely to commute within the same LA they live in. This confirms the national trend which sees 60% of car journeys to be within 5 mile (≈8km) distance. This provides confidence in relation to this report’s findings.
- The majority of the traffic passing through each local authority (i.e. with both origin and destination outside the Local Authority) originates outside South Yorkshire. This would be difficult to influence through local and regional transport planning and sustainability policies.
This report is part of SYSC's Developing Transport Routes project which aims investigate urban mobility, We are working with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to co-develop an urban mobility model based on patterns of private mobility and public transport, and includes scenario analysis for the spread of active travel.
