A-road
A472 traffic and collisions
The A472 is an A-road of 20.9 miles, from Monmouthshire to Rhondda Cynon Taf. This page covers its traffic at 18 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 130m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 16,970 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 38,681 A4042 to A4043
- HGV share 2.9% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −1.4% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 111 17.7 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A472?
On an average day in 2025, 16,970 vehicles passed each point on the A472, counting both directions. The busiest section is A4042 to A4043 (Torfaen), with 38,681 a day; the quietest listed is A449 to B4598, with 6,735.
Busiest sections, 2025
A4042 to A4043 carries 2.3 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A4042 to A4043 Torfaen · 0.9 mi · HGVs 2.0% | 38,681 |
| A4049 to Edge of Maesycwmmer Caerphilly · 0.7 mi · HGVs 2.5% | 27,332 |
| Edge of Maesycwmmer Caerphilly · 0.7 mi · HGVs 2.5% | 26,153 |
| A467 to A4048 Caerphilly · 1.6 mi · HGVs 4.3% | 22,939 |
| A4048 to A4049 Caerphilly · 0.7 mi · HGVs 3.2% | 22,757 |
| road to Swffryd to A467 Caerphilly · 0.8 mi · HGVs 2.9% | 21,976 |
| A4043 to road from Swffryn Torfaen, Caerphilly · 3.8 mi · HGVs 2.9% | 19,798 |
| At A4048 Caerphilly · 1.1 mi · HGVs 4.2% | 19,119 |
| Maes-y-Coed to A469 Caerphilly · 0.9 mi · HGVs 2.9% | 17,432 |
| Maes-y-Coed, Ystrad Mynach to A4054 Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil · 3.1 mi · HGVs 3.2% | 15,418 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Monmouthshire to Rhondda Cynon Taf · 20.9 miles
A472 traffic and collisions by section
14 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 1 short link roads and spurs (0.4 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A449 to B4598Monmouthshire | 6,735 | 5 |
| 2 | B4598 to A4042Monmouthshire | 6,743 | 8 |
| 3 | A4042 to A4043Torfaen | 38,681 | 6 |
| 4 | A4043 to road from SwffrynTorfaen, Caerphilly | 19,798 | 11 |
| 5 | road to Swffryd to A467Caerphilly | 21,976 | 5 |
| 6 | A467 to A4048Caerphilly | 22,939 | 7 |
| 7 | At A4048Caerphilly | 19,119 | 5 |
| 8 | A4048 to A4049Caerphilly | 22,757 | 13 |
| 9 | A4049 to Edge of MaesycwmmerCaerphilly | 27,332 | fewer than 3 |
| 10 | Edge of MaesycwmmerCaerphilly | 26,153 | 6 |
| 11 | Maes-y-CoedCaerphilly | 11,216 | fewer than 3 |
| 12 | Maes-y-Coed to A469Caerphilly | 17,432 | 12 |
| 13 | Maes-y-Coed, Ystrad Mynach to A4054Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil | 15,418 | 19 |
| 14 | A4054 to A470Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf | 25,444 | 8 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A472 as the first road, placed on the nearest section by their recorded position; rates (per 100 million vehicle miles) are shown for sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more.
A472 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 79.4% of the vehicle miles on the A472. HGVs account for 2.9%, rising to 4.3% on A467 to A4048.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.8% |
| 2001 | 4.8% |
| 2002 | 4.3% |
| 2003 | 4.0% |
| 2004 | 4.8% |
| 2005 | 4.3% |
| 2006 | 4.0% |
| 2007 | 4.4% |
| 2008 | 4.3% |
| 2009 | 4.0% |
| 2010 | 3.9% |
| 2011 | 3.8% |
| 2012 | 3.7% |
| 2013 | 3.9% |
| 2014 | 3.6% |
| 2015 | 3.2% |
| 2016 | 3.1% |
| 2017 | 3.1% |
| 2018 | 3.1% |
| 2019 | 3.1% |
| 2020 | 3.7% |
| 2021 | 3.5% |
| 2022 | 3.3% |
| 2023 | 3.1% |
| 2024 | 3.0% |
| 2025 | 2.9% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A472 traffic trend
Traffic on the A472 came to 130 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 1.4% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 4.6% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 30.1% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 91m |
| 2001 | 92m |
| 2002 | 96m |
| 2003 | 97m |
| 2004 | 102m |
| 2005 | 108m |
| 2006 | 114m |
| 2007 | 114m |
| 2008 | 114m |
| 2009 | 113m |
| 2010 | 112m |
| 2011 | 112m |
| 2012 | 112m |
| 2013 | 110m |
| 2014 | 119m |
| 2015 | 123m |
| 2016 | 127m |
| 2017 | 128m |
| 2018 | 129m |
| 2019 | 131m |
| 2020 | 100m |
| 2021 | 115m |
| 2022 | 125m |
| 2023 | 127m |
| 2024 | 129m |
| 2025 | 130m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 12,527 |
| 2001 | 12,639 |
| 2002 | 13,101 |
| 2003 | 13,322 |
| 2004 | 13,992 |
| 2005 | 14,829 |
| 2006 | 15,677 |
| 2007 | 15,550 |
| 2008 | 15,585 |
| 2009 | 15,450 |
| 2010 | 15,400 |
| 2011 | 15,325 |
| 2012 | 15,366 |
| 2013 | 15,061 |
| 2014 | 15,969 |
| 2015 | 16,472 |
| 2016 | 17,101 |
| 2017 | 17,218 |
| 2018 | 17,257 |
| 2019 | 17,327 |
| 2020 | 13,245 |
| 2021 | 15,201 |
| 2022 | 16,568 |
| 2023 | 16,839 |
| 2024 | 17,056 |
| 2025 | 16,970 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
The chart counts the whole road as it was each year, so new or renumbered stretches move it. The percentage changes compare only count points present in both years (72.2% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 4 of the 18 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A472 collisions
Police recorded 111 collisions with the A472 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 41 of them fatal or serious, including 6 fatal. That is 17.7 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.1 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 47.1% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10 | 7 |
| 2022 | 18 | 9 |
| 2023 | 13 | 9 |
| 2024 | 12 | 8 |
| 2025 | 17 | 8 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
Sections with the highest collision rates
Per 100 million vehicle miles, 2021 to 2025. Sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more collisions.
| Section | Per 100m vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| Maes-y-Coed, Ystrad Mynach to A4054 Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil · 19 collisions | 72.7 |
| A4048 to A4049 Caerphilly · 13 collisions | 45.5 |
| Maes-y-Coed to A469 Caerphilly · 12 collisions | 43.3 |
| A4043 to road from Swffryn Torfaen, Caerphilly · 11 collisions | 7.9 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 18 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A472 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. How we count collisions
Council areas on the A472
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Monmouthshire
- Torfaen
- Caerphilly
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Rhondda Cynon Taf
Data sources and methodology
| Figures | Source | Period | Records | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic counts and vehicle mix | Road traffic statistics (AADF by count point) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2000 to 2025 | 18 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 111 reported collisions | 15 September 2026 |
- Annual average daily flow (AADF) is the average number of vehicles passing a point on a typical day of the year, both directions combined.
- Vehicle miles are AADF multiplied by link length and 365, summed over every count point link on the road.
- Sections join count point links between junctions, using the link lines in DfT’s major road database.
- STATS19 covers personal injury collisions reported to the police. Damage-only collisions are not included, and not every injury collision is reported.
- Serious and slight figures are DfT’s adjusted estimates, which allow for police forces moving to injury-based reporting.
- Counts of one or two collisions below Great Britain level are shown as “fewer than 3”.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.