A severe increase in the number of lorries on Danish roads has been observed in the last 10 years. As Danish Tv2 East writes, since 2010, HGV traffic on the roads has increased by 26%. In some areas, the increase is even much higher.
The boom in road freight has led to an increase in congestion, pollution and accidents. The aforementioned Danish paper cites traffic researcher Harry Lahrmann from Aalborg University, who thinks that HGVs are to blame for increased congestion. According to him, one should consider making it more expensive to drive a lorry to create “more sensible transport” and increased cooperation.
The increase of road traffic in some areas is reportedly so high that both heavy goods vehicles and passenger cars tend to choose smaller roads instead of motorways to avoid traffic jams. This has in turn increased congestion on those roads and has made travelling harder for locals.
According to Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, Torben Lund Kudsk, Head of Department at Federation of Danish motorists, has urged the authorities to implement more lorry bans to tackle the problem:
Congestion is increasing and today costs society over 30 Danish krone per year. Therefore, there should be increased focus on the existing ban on lorry traffic, just as consideration should be given to extending the ban.