Traffic management in Britain's national parks

Abstract

Traffic in Britain's eleven national parks is forecast to increase considerably over the next two decades, imposing inevitable pressures on the very nature of the parks. The four official committees established since 1945 to review the future of the parks have all advocated the adoption of stringent traffic management measures in order to control the negative impacts of traffic. The position of each of these committees regarding traffic and transport is summarized. The traffic management measures which have been implemented in the national parks are then reviewed in the light of the recommendations of these committees to illustrate that despite the park authority's support for the idea of traffic management, relatively little is at present being done. Some explanations are suggested for the lack of such measures and the conclusion is reached that without a change in the public's attitudes towards the use of cars and a stronger lead being taken by Government, the success of traffic management measures is likely to remain in doubt.