from motorcyclenews.com:



december 30 2004



grid lock? not for bikes!



there’s never been a better time to take to two wheels, according to a report from the rac foundation issued today (december 30, 2004).



the organisation is warning of the growing threat of grid-lock on britain's roads in 2005. they say surveys show congestion in towns and cities is “a serious issue for a majority of people” and congestion on motorways is a serious problem for nearly a third of people. we suspect it’s not much of an issue for most motorcyclists!



the rac says

• average traffic speeds fell by 7% between 1995 and 2003 in the evening peak period.


• road traffic has grown by 79% since 1980.


• the proportion of trips made by car has increased from 57% in 1989/91 to 64% in 2002/03.


• travel by car rose from 388 billion passenger kilometres in 1980 to 678 billion in 2003 – an increase of 75%.


• travel by car now accounts for 62% of time spent travelling.


• 71% of trips to work were made by car in 2002/03 compared with 66% in 1989/91.


• 92% of all passenger travel is by road whilst 6.5% is by rail.


• road traffic has grown by 79% since 1980, while the total length of roads increased by only 10% in the same period.

the rac is calling on the governent to start spending more of the £42 billion per year paid to the treasury by road users each year on improvements to the roads network. “road users currently pay £42 billion a year of which less than £6 billion is spent on roads. we claim to be the fourth largest economy in the world so surely we can afford a decent road system to support economic growth," said a spokesman.



anthony says:


so go and buy a motorcycle if you want to recapture the freedom you used to have on the roads.