Leading vehicle tracking supplier V-SOL has revealed the amount of time saved on rush hour commutes during school holidays, with results showing that British motorists' journey times were reduced by up to 50% during the recent half term holidays.
Sampling motorists' travelling time both before and during half term, V-SOL used its tracking system to record the time taken to complete commutes during morning and evening rush hours, with results showing that some drivers were able to cut their journey times in half.
David Isom, managing director of V-SOL, says: "Everybody knows that without parents driving the kids to school the roads tend to be that bit quieter, but it's incredible to see quite how much difference this makes to people's everyday commutes. On average, drivers experienced journey times reduced by 24percent."
The results also showed that the biggest reductions in journey times were made on morning commutes, with these averaging at 27% shorter than term time journeys, compared to a difference of 21% in evening commutes.
David adds: "With schools starting at around the same time as most office workers, the morning traffic is a lot lighter during the holidays. However, it is interesting to see that despite more staggered finishing times, evening journeys were still quicker throughout half term, with the number of cars on the road likely to be reduced by parents taking time off to spend with the kids, as well as teachers not having to drive to work.
"The results highlight the number of children driven to school these days, which aside from prolonging other motorists' journey times, also has a damaging effect on the environment. In some parts of the UK parents have no choice but to drive their children to school, but this impacts heavily on everyday drivers. What we need to see is an improvement in the public transport links available, so that commuters are offered a convenient alternative to endless traffic jams."
The company's tracking systems allow customers to monitor the exact location of their vehicle, with real-time recording monitoring the routes taken, distance covered and speed of the vehicle.
V-SOL has been supplying live vehicle tracking longer than any other company in the UK, and is the only company to design and manufacture its technology in Britain working with organisations such as the Ministry of Defence, EDF Energy and Goldstar Heathrow. It has recently become the first company in the World to receive the new BS EN ISO 9001:2008 accreditation for all of its operations.