14.       Transport (Great Britain)

This section considers the transport infrastructure in the regions and devolved administrations. Two indicators are used:

a) Mode of transport to work

b) Average speed and vehicle flows on roads.

Travel to work patterns

Table 14(a) and Chart 14(a) provide data on the main mode of transport used to travel to work. During autumn 2001 it was estimated that 74 per cent of people travelling to work in Great Britain used private transport (car, van, minibus, motorcycle or bicycle). The chart illustrates how people in London make much more use of public transport than the residents of other regions, with nearly 46 per cent of people travelling to work by public transport. Overall, nearly 11 per cent of people in Great Britain walked to work during autumn 2001.

Tables 14(b) and 14(c) cover two further aspects of transport: the average speed and daily vehicle flows on the major roads of England.  These estimates cover motorways and 'A' roads only.  In showing this information it is recognised that conditions within regions are often affected by conditions in other regions. For example, congestion in one region can often spill over to the roads in another. The figures show that average speeds in England increased by just over 5 km/hour in between 1998 and 2001 with the largest regional increase in London at nearly 8.5 km/hour. Traffic flows remained broadly stable across Great Britain during the same period, although traffic flows on major roads within London did fall significantly between 1998 and 2001.

15.       Industrial Property and Office Rental Costs

This is a measure of property costs by region.  The estimates are based on a sample of different locations within each region of Inland Revenue property valuations.

Chart 15(a) illustrates the capital cost of industrial/warehouse units, with Chart 15(b) detailing average rental costs for Type 1 office accommodation.  Descriptions of the types of industrial accommodation used in this section are provided in Definitions.

Table 15(a) details the capital value index of industrial property while Table 15(b) contains the rental cost of office accommodation.

The relatively high cost of industrial and office accommodation in London and the South East is evident from both the tables and charts.  Increases have been particularly marked in London between Spring 2001 and Spring 2002, with a rise of 32 points in the index of Type 1 office accommodation. The indices for all other areas of the UK have fallen back or remained stable during the last year.

The Index of (Type 3) Industrial property value indicates a different pattern over the latest year. The relative growth in the value of industrial accommodation in London has been far less marked (5 points on the UK = 100 index) with rises also occurring in some other regions. Based on the UK index, between 1998 and 2002 the greatest growth in the relative value of industrial accommodation was in Northern Ireland, with a rise of 28 points.

16.       Re-Use of Vacant and Derelict Land

Table 16 provides estimates of the proportion of previously developed land that is derelict or vacant as well as the proportion of land that has potential for redevelopment. Chart 16 illustrates the proportion of derelict land in 1998 and 2001. For the definitions of vacant and derelict land refer to the Definitions section.

In 1998 Yorkshire and Humberside had the highest proportion of developed land that was vacant (2.8 per cent) in addition to the highest percentage of developed land that was derelict (3.4 per cent). By 2001, this pattern had changed with the North East having the highest percentage vacant land (at 3.3 per cent of total stock) and the North West the highest proportion of derelict land (3.6 per cent � an increase of around 1.5 percentage points on the 1998 figure).

The lowest percentage of developed land left unused and/or derelict during both 1998 and 2001 was in London (less than 1 per cent of the total stock during this time). Further, during these years London had the lowest proportion of land with redevelopment potential of any English region.

The profile of land redevelopment for London is unsurprising, with commercial pressures driving up land values and speeding up the redevelopment / recycling of unused, derelict or land with redevelopment potential.

Chart 16