Car journeys plunge as cost of fuel soars

The number of journeys taken by car in the West Midlands has plummeted as fuel costs have continued to soar, new figures reveal today.

Car use in the region generally rose steadily between 2001 and 2007 but has since dropped off.

In some parts of the region the use of parts of the motorway network even halved between 2007 and 2009 according to official figures from the Department for Transport.

Further figures for 2010 will be released in June, when they are again expected to reflect motorists' reaction to spiralling prices at the pumps.

Currently the average price for a litre of unleaded is around 129p a litre while diesel costs around 136p — both prices convert to around £6 a gallon. Rural areas of the UK's motorway network show the sharpest drop in motorway use, while car use in urban areas remains higher.

This shows that shorter rush-hour journeys are continuing but that people are cutting down on longer journeys.

More Government figures released today also show drivers in the West Midlands covered 53 million fewer miles in 2009 than they did in 2007.

The sharpest declines were in Dudley and Walsall where 14 million miles a year fewer are being driven.

Sandwell has recorded a drop of just 3m miles while Wolverhampton has fallen by 9m and Staffordshire has fallen by 13m.

Paul Watters of the AA said: "When you hear people on radio shows talking of cutting back on food to afford to go to work you know the cost of fuel is too great.

"When you hear people talking of considering giving up their jobs, you know thousands of UK drivers have reached breaking point.

"Quieter roads may be appealing for the better off but the loss of mobility for lower-income drivers is civilisation being rolled back in 21st-century Britain."

But the figures were questioned today by business bosses who claimed traffic in urban areas of the West Midlands is as busy and congested as ever.

Peter Shirley, who runs Willenhall-based Midland Chilled Foods and employs 250 people, said: "If you tell me that traffic has fallen on the M6 I'd tell you, you're in cloud cuckoo land and if anything it just exposes the flaws in the way these statistics are gathered."

He added: "Once people have paid for a car, paid for tax and insurance they are going to use it although the cost of fuel may well mean they use it less."

Colin Leighfield, chairman of the transport policy group at the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, said: "There have recently been a great deal of roadworks on the Walsall stretch of the M6 which means some people may have been making alternative arrangements.

"People will try to limit their mileage as a result of rising fuel costs and the economy."