Traffic census causing rush hour chaos

Thousands of motorists are being delayed in rush hour by an army of surveyors asking them about their journeys.

Drivers across the region are being pulled over on their way to work to be asked everything from the type of fuel in their car to where exactly they are going.

Bosses say the £900,000 project, funded by councils, Centro and the Highways Agency, is to get a better understanding of how roads and rails are used so money can be better spent in the future on projects such as motorway widening and high speed train links.

But motorists have been left angry at the delays the surveys have caused.

Workers either question people at the scene, or hand over forms to fill in and send back with the offer of entry into a prize draw as an incentive not to disregard them.

Traffic built up today and yesterday on Gospel End Road, at Wombourne, when a team of police and contractors pulled over drivers on the A449 near Wodehouse Island.

A survey was also being carried out on Wolverhampton's Wergs Road yesterday.

Kitchen fitter Jonathan Stevens, aged 28, from Wombourne, said: "There was already quite a lot of traffic built up around Wombourne island early yesterday because some lanes had been blocked off due to the census.

"There were signs telling drivers that some would be pulled over and police officers directed cars over to take part in the survey.

"Four or five cars in front of mine were instructed to move over into the lay-by, where four or five people were standing with clipboards to ask questions.

"Roads around the island are already busy, especially at rush hour, and this made the traffic much worse."

Financial controller Steve Brown, aged 35, from Kidderminster, said his journey to work in Wolverhampton was delayed by 20 minutes yesterday as traffic stretched back on the A449 for half a mile.

Mr Brown said today he felt the real reason for the questionnaire was to ask about car parking charges, as there have been proposals in the past to charge companies for car parking.

"You have to question doing this survey in the rush hour," he added

Another motorist, a 47-year-old charity worker, was on his way into work in All Saints, Wolverhampton, from Kingswinford when he was caught up in yesterday's delays.

He told the Express & Star there was caught in a three-mile jam leading up to the survey site.

He said: "My journey to work which usually takes 15-20 minutes, but I left at 8.05am and arrived at 8.55am all because they were doing this census.

"There was no publicity about it and no warning.

"I thought the police presence was way over the top. We have a lot of trouble with anti-social behaviour in our area and we can't get a police officer.

"I think people would have been frightened with the way that they were pulled over.

"It was a totally inappropriate."

Chris Haynes, head of transportation strategy at Birmingham City Council, defended the survey, which is being carried out throughout the spring and autumn.

He said: "We're trying to get a picture of how journeys have changed since 2000. "We're trying to speak to as many people as possible.

"There's no obligation at all to answer any of the questions but we'd like to get people's co-operation at the end of the day because we want to make their journeys better.

"A lot of people work in conurbations but don't live there and we need to be able to pick those up.

"It is inconvenient but we're only dong it once every 10 years and it's for the good of the West Midlands."

Staffordshire Police said the role of officers was simply to stop vehicles and while some drivers had been "slightly annoyed", there had been no official complaints.