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| What use are traffic reports? | What use are traffic reports? |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| If only he had listened to the traffic reports By Oliver Hawkins | |
| What are the chances of getting a radio traffic report that is actually relevant to your current car journey? | What are the chances of getting a radio traffic report that is actually relevant to your current car journey? |
| A holiday weekend gives the nation a chance to take to the open road and spend more time with the family. Unfortunately this quality time is more than often spent in the car stuck in a traffic jam. | A holiday weekend gives the nation a chance to take to the open road and spend more time with the family. Unfortunately this quality time is more than often spent in the car stuck in a traffic jam. |
| FIND OUT MORE... More or Less is on BBC Radio 4 on Fridays at 1330 BSTListen to the programme here | FIND OUT MORE... More or Less is on BBC Radio 4 on Fridays at 1330 BSTListen to the programme here |
| In theory, we should be able to avoid this congestion by listening to the travel bulletins on the radio but do they really help? Can they ever give you information you can use? | In theory, we should be able to avoid this congestion by listening to the travel bulletins on the radio but do they really help? Can they ever give you information you can use? |
| One listener to the BBC's More or Less programme, Andrew Leith, said he had never used information from a traffic report and asked what the likelihood was of any report actually relating to roads you were using or about to use. | One listener to the BBC's More or Less programme, Andrew Leith, said he had never used information from a traffic report and asked what the likelihood was of any report actually relating to roads you were using or about to use. |
| To come up with such a figure you need to make some pretty heroic assumptions. The right answer would depend on where you are, where you are going, how often you go there, which roads you take and, perhaps most importantly, which bulletin you are listening to. | To come up with such a figure you need to make some pretty heroic assumptions. The right answer would depend on where you are, where you are going, how often you go there, which roads you take and, perhaps most importantly, which bulletin you are listening to. |
| So the first assumption might be the bulletin. Britain's most popular "drive-time" bulletin is Sally Boazman's traffic report on BBC Radio 2. | So the first assumption might be the bulletin. Britain's most popular "drive-time" bulletin is Sally Boazman's traffic report on BBC Radio 2. |
| The Highways Agency monitors traffic on all of England's motorways and A-roads, so they could find out how many drivers were affected by the incidents listed in a Radio 2 traffic report. | The Highways Agency monitors traffic on all of England's motorways and A-roads, so they could find out how many drivers were affected by the incidents listed in a Radio 2 traffic report. |
| The Highways Agency knows if you are stuck on a major English road | The Highways Agency knows if you are stuck on a major English road |
| The sample bulletin was Sally's 1715 BST report from the Chris Evans show. The Highways Agency were asked to find out how many drivers were travelling on stretches of road that were affected by the incidents she mentioned. | The sample bulletin was Sally's 1715 BST report from the Chris Evans show. The Highways Agency were asked to find out how many drivers were travelling on stretches of road that were affected by the incidents she mentioned. |
| This was divided by the total number of cars on the Highways Agency road network. | This was divided by the total number of cars on the Highways Agency road network. |
| On the day in question there were eight incidents mentioned in the bulletin that took place on the Highways Agency's network, affecting 46,816 drivers out of a total of 301,325. That means the report was relevant to roughly 16% of the drivers in our sample that day. | On the day in question there were eight incidents mentioned in the bulletin that took place on the Highways Agency's network, affecting 46,816 drivers out of a total of 301,325. That means the report was relevant to roughly 16% of the drivers in our sample that day. |
| It is important to understand that there are all sorts of things wrong with this calculation from a statistical point of view. It does not take into account any of those people driving on roads other than major roads in England, which is probably the majority of road users at that time. | It is important to understand that there are all sorts of things wrong with this calculation from a statistical point of view. It does not take into account any of those people driving on roads other than major roads in England, which is probably the majority of road users at that time. |
| It does not consider local traffic reports, which are bound to me more relevant to your location. And it does not match the coverage of the bulletin to the sample - the traffic report is for the whole of the UK. | It does not consider local traffic reports, which are bound to me more relevant to your location. And it does not match the coverage of the bulletin to the sample - the traffic report is for the whole of the UK. |
| There's a lot of ifs. If Sally's broadcast was a representative broadcast, and if you're a representative driver, and if you're driving on a motorway or a road in England, and if you listen to a national traffic broadcast in the rush hour, there's a 15-16% chance that you're going to hear something that's relevant to you. | There's a lot of ifs. If Sally's broadcast was a representative broadcast, and if you're a representative driver, and if you're driving on a motorway or a road in England, and if you listen to a national traffic broadcast in the rush hour, there's a 15-16% chance that you're going to hear something that's relevant to you. |
| And, of course, if you are already stuck in the jam, it is too late. | And, of course, if you are already stuck in the jam, it is too late. |
| Add your comments on this story, using the form below | Add your comments on this story, using the form below |
| The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions | The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions |