A-road

A493 traffic and collisions

The A493 is an A-road of 33.8 miles, in Gwynedd. This page covers its traffic at 5 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
5 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 30m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 2,438 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 4,876 C-road south of Tywyn to C-road at Pall Mall, nroth of Tywyn
  • HGV share 1.9% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 +1.4% same count points

How busy is the A493?

On an average day in 2025, 2,438 vehicles passed each point on the A493, counting both directions. The busiest section is C-road south of Tywyn to C-road at Pall Mall, nroth of Tywyn (Gwynedd), with 4,876 a day; the quietest listed is B4405 to C-road to Pen-y-Bryn, with 1,442.

Busiest sections, 2025

C-road south of Tywyn to C-road at Pall Mall, nroth of Tywyn carries 2.0 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the A493 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
C-road south of Tywyn to C-road at Pall Mall, nroth of Tywyn Gwynedd · 1.8 mi · HGVs 1.6% 4,876
C-road to Tywyn to B4405 Gwynedd · 1.2 mi · HGVs 1.8% 4,488
Tywyn, Gwynedd (Wales) to C-road south of Tywyn Gwynedd · 13.6 mi · HGVs 1.8% 3,177
C-road to Pen-y-Bryn to A470 Gwynedd · 1.4 mi · HGVs 3.6% 1,596
B4405 to C-road to Pen-y-Bryn Gwynedd · 15.8 mi · HGVs 1.9% 1,442

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

In Gwynedd · 33.8 miles

Gwynedd
Schematic route: each line joins the junctions at the ends of a DfT count point link.

A493 traffic and collisions by section

5 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length.

Sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the A493 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1Tywyn, Gwynedd (Wales) to C-road south of TywynGwynedd13.63,1771.8%
2C-road south of Tywyn to C-road at Pall Mall, nroth of TywynGwynedd1.84,8761.6%−6.3%
3C-road to Tywyn to B4405Gwynedd1.24,4881.8%−5.5%
4B4405 to C-road to Pen-y-BrynGwynedd15.81,4421.9%+11.3%
5C-road to Pen-y-Bryn to A470Gwynedd1.41,5963.6%−28.1%

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A493 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.

A493 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 78.7% of the vehicle miles on the A493. HGVs account for 1.9%, rising to 3.6% on C-road to Pen-y-Bryn to A470.

Vehicle mix, 2025

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

HGV share of traffic

HGVs as a share of vehicle miles on the A493, by year
Year HGV share
2000 3.0%
2001 3.3%
2002 4.0%
2003 3.7%
2004 4.1%
2005 4.7%
2006 4.1%
2007 4.3%
2008 4.4%
2009 4.5%
2010 4.7%
2011 4.7%
2012 4.7%
2013 4.4%
2014 4.5%
2015 4.6%
2016 2.0%
2017 2.2%
2018 2.2%
2019 2.2%
2020 2.0%
2021 1.9%
2022 1.9%
2023 1.8%
2024 1.8%
2025 1.9%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

A493 traffic trend

Traffic on the A493 came to 30.1 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 1.4% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 2.5% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 4.3% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the A493 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 28m
2001 29m
2002 31m
2003 32m
2004 29m
2005 30m
2006 31m
2007 32m
2008 30m
2009 30m
2010 29m
2011 29m
2012 29m
2013 29m
2014 30m
2015 30m
2016 32m
2017 31m
2018 32m
2019 32m
2020 25m
2021 27m
2022 29m
2023 30m
2024 31m
2025 30m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the A493, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 2,270
2001 2,375
2002 2,520
2003 2,627
2004 2,348
2005 2,429
2006 2,562
2007 2,609
2008 2,485
2009 2,441
2010 2,382
2011 2,391
2012 2,353
2013 2,371
2014 2,429
2015 2,494
2016 2,619
2017 2,575
2018 2,587
2019 2,591
2020 2,021
2021 2,229
2022 2,409
2023 2,462
2024 2,504
2025 2,438

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 (59.8% of today’s road for 2019). In 2025, 1 of the 5 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

A493 collisions

Police recorded fewer than 3 collisions with the A493 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 18 of them fatal or serious, including 3 fatal.

Reported collisions by year

Down 70.0% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the A493 by year
Year Collisions Fatal or serious
2021 10 6
2022 4 4
2023 8 5
2024 fewer than 3 fewer than 3
2025 3 fewer than 3

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. How we count collisions

Council areas on the A493

In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.

  • Gwynedd

Data sources and methodology

Datasets used on this page
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 5 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 26 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.