The average speed on local ‘A’ roads in England at the height of the morning rush hour is getting slower according to a report from the Department for Transport (DfT)1. In the year ending June 2015, the average speed between 7am and 10am was 23.8 mph. During April, May and June, the average monthly speeds were 3.1%, 1.2% and 2.3% slower than the respective months in 2014. When combined with the trend towards commuting distances getting longer, things look pretty bleak for the commuter that drives to work.
While all regions in England are experiencing slower average weekday morning peak speeds, London experienced the greatest drop (4.1%) across all nine regions, and continues to have the lowest average weekday morning peak speed with a very slow 14.9 mph.
For those of us that commute by car – especially in London – this might confirm our worst suspicions but for transport planners trying to predict the arrival time of 10s or 100s of vehicles at customer sites, it provides yet another operational challenge.
Planners juggling driver shifts, vehicle resources, local authority HGV regulations and customer-specific delivery slots already have a lot of variables to manage. If the actual speeds achieved on our roads during rush hour are getting slower, how can a planner predict accurate arrival times?
Using routing and scheduling software that allows the planner to build and vary rush hour profiles can help enormously. For example, if a planner is managing a fleet that delivers to locations in London, Bristol or Manchester, the planner can circle the relevant areas on the map and then create rush hour profiles specific to this city. All schedules will then automatically factor in the slower speeds that vehicles can achieve during rush hour in that city.
Rush hour profiling functionality can also be used together with average road speed data. Based on historic traffic flow data, average road speed data allows transport planners to calculate even more precise journey times.
We have a range of software tools that help transport planners build smarter plans. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.
