Abstract:
The Milton Keynes Development Corporation and their planning
consultants have asked the College Transport Group to investigate the
scale of likely regional traffic flows into and out of Milton Keynes.
At this stage the emphasis is on providing information for the preparation
of a Master Plan for the city itself, rather than detailed traffic
estimates for planning transport systems in the surrounding region.
Population estimates for 1981 have been obtained from County
Councils for areas within a 20 mile radius of the new city, and the
proportions attracted to Milton Keynes for work and shopping assessed
using gravity model techniques. Separate estimates have been made of
work journeys from the city to regional employment and to London.
Possible upper and lower limits to these forecasts are included to
account for many uncertainties in the absolute and relative growth of
population, employment and shopping opportunities in the city itself and
in the surrounding region. The results are presented as traffic flews
into and out of octant sectors around the city. Flows to the east are
greater than to the west with work trip flows of the order of 2,500 person
trips each way in the most heavily loaded sectors. A 1981 city population
of 150,000 is likely to produce at least 1,500 daily commuters to London
using the fast rail service, with an additional 200 commuters from the region
using Milton Keynes railway station.
