New research shows that friendships on busy streets are cut by more than 75 percent

People living on streets with heavy motor vehicle traffic experience a considerable deterioration of their local social lives.

Research conducted by Joshua Hart, a researcher from the University of the West of England, suggest that residents on busy streets have less than one quarter the number of local friends compared to those living on similar streets with little traffic.

The study (Driven to Excess) looked at three streets in north Bristol with light, medium and heavy traffic respectively. It found that motor traffic, which has grown more than tenfold in the UK since 1950, has a considerable negative impact on quality of life, particularly for residents living beside heavy motor traffic flows. "Traffic is like a mountain range, cutting you off" said one resident of the heavy traffic street, Muller Road, where over 20,000 cars drive by every day.

Heavy traffic street: "The street is quite anonymous, we only know our immediate neighbours"

Interviews with residents indicate that growing motor traffic has forced people to make major adjustments in their lives, to shield against the nearly constant noise, pollution, dust and danger outside their front doors. Many residents revealed that they experience sleep disturbances, no longer spend time in the front of their homes, and curtail the independence of their children in response to motor traffic. "Our 4-year-old girl has a constant cough and we limit the amount of time she spends outside...we're constantly breathing in pollution," said one father.

On the heavy traffic street many have left, or are planning to leave, in search of a healthier environment for their families.

Light traffic street: "There is really a sense of community on the street. We share plants and look after each other - when my next door neighbour hasn't seen me for a few days, he knocks just to see if I'm okay."

The research, carried out as part of a Transport Planning MSc, confirms for the first time in the UK the results of a 1969 San Francisco study by Professor Donald Appleyard, which found similar social isolation on busy streets.

With an additional 5.7 million cars expected on the UK's roads by 2031 (a growth of 21%), these findings point to an urgent need for the Government to provide healthy residential environments and stem traffic growth by investing in public transport, walking and cycling in order to avoid many more local communities being impacted.

Living Streets is helping publicise Josh Hart's research to demonstrate the need for better design and management of our streets and transport system to support nieghbourhood communities.

Find out more below:


Driven to Excess poster and summary PDF (1386Kb)



Driven to Excess full report PDF (2415Kb)