A-road
A603 traffic and collisions
The A603 is an A-road of 18.8 miles, from Bedford to Cambridgeshire. This page covers its traffic at 11 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 87m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 12,682 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 24,263 A5140 to B562 Eastcotts Rd
- HGV share 3.1% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −2.7% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 126 30.4 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the A603?
On an average day in 2025, 12,682 vehicles passed each point on the A603, counting both directions. The busiest section is A5140 to B562 Eastcotts Rd (Bedford), with 24,263 a day; the quietest listed is A1198 to M11, with 9,321.
Busiest sections, 2025
A5140 to B562 Eastcotts Rd carries 1.9 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| A5140 to B562 Eastcotts Rd Bedford · 0.9 mi · HGVs 0.8% | 24,263 |
| A421(T) to A1 Bedford, Central Bedfordshire · 5.6 mi · HGVs 5.1% | 16,731 |
| A1307 to A1134 Cambridgeshire · 1.1 mi · HGVs 1.8% | 12,863 |
| Gough Way to A1134 Cambridgeshire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 1.3% | 11,350 |
| M11 to Gough Way Cambridgeshire · 1.4 mi · HGVs 1.1% | 10,194 |
| B562 Eastcotts Rd to A5134 Bedford · 0.6 mi · HGVs 2.0% | 10,115 |
| A1198 to M11 Cambridgeshire · 7.5 mi · HGVs 2.1% | 9,321 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Bedford to Cambridgeshire · 18.8 miles
A603 traffic and collisions by section
10 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
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A600/Cardington Road Junction to A603/A5140 RoundaboutBedford | 3,768 | 0 |
| 2 | A5140 to B562 Eastcotts RdBedford | 24,263 | 9 |
| 3 | B562 Eastcotts Rd to A5134Bedford | 10,115 | 3 |
| 4 | A5134 to A421Bedford | 16,716 | fewer than 3 |
| 5 | A421(T) to A1Bedford, Central Bedfordshire | 16,731 | 27 |
| 6 | A1198 to M11Cambridgeshire | 9,321 | 17 |
| 7 | M11 to Gough WayCambridgeshire | 10,194 | 4 |
| 8 | Gough Way to A1134Cambridgeshire | 11,350 | 6 |
| 9 | A1134 to A1307Cambridgeshire | 11,752 | 10 |
| 10 | A1307 to A1134Cambridgeshire | 12,863 | 48 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the A603 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.
A603 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 80.2% of the vehicle miles on the A603. HGVs account for 3.1%, rising to 5.1% on A421(T) to A1.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.3% |
| 2001 | 4.0% |
| 2002 | 4.2% |
| 2003 | 4.4% |
| 2004 | 4.4% |
| 2005 | 4.5% |
| 2006 | 4.6% |
| 2007 | 4.1% |
| 2008 | 3.9% |
| 2009 | 4.2% |
| 2010 | 4.6% |
| 2011 | 3.6% |
| 2012 | 3.7% |
| 2013 | 3.8% |
| 2014 | 3.7% |
| 2015 | 3.7% |
| 2016 | 3.4% |
| 2017 | 3.3% |
| 2018 | 3.2% |
| 2019 | 3.2% |
| 2020 | 3.2% |
| 2021 | 3.0% |
| 2022 | 2.9% |
| 2023 | 2.8% |
| 2024 | 3.2% |
| 2025 | 3.1% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
A603 traffic trend
Traffic on the A603 came to 87 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 2.7% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 5.3% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is down 4.3% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 85m |
| 2001 | 90m |
| 2002 | 90m |
| 2003 | 93m |
| 2004 | 92m |
| 2005 | 89m |
| 2006 | 88m |
| 2007 | 86m |
| 2008 | 83m |
| 2009 | 114m |
| 2010 | 78m |
| 2011 | 77m |
| 2012 | 77m |
| 2013 | 76m |
| 2014 | 78m |
| 2015 | 80m |
| 2016 | 83m |
| 2017 | 84m |
| 2018 | 89m |
| 2019 | 89m |
| 2020 | 69m |
| 2021 | 76m |
| 2022 | 82m |
| 2023 | 84m |
| 2024 | 86m |
| 2025 | 87m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 12,626 |
| 2001 | 13,335 |
| 2002 | 13,273 |
| 2003 | 13,764 |
| 2004 | 13,597 |
| 2005 | 13,194 |
| 2006 | 13,044 |
| 2007 | 12,660 |
| 2008 | 12,217 |
| 2009 | 12,987 |
| 2010 | 11,926 |
| 2011 | 11,766 |
| 2012 | 11,673 |
| 2013 | 11,607 |
| 2014 | 11,922 |
| 2015 | 12,192 |
| 2016 | 12,578 |
| 2017 | 12,715 |
| 2018 | 13,218 |
| 2019 | 13,228 |
| 2020 | 10,217 |
| 2021 | 11,315 |
| 2022 | 12,184 |
| 2023 | 12,438 |
| 2024 | 12,503 |
| 2025 | 12,682 |
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. In 2025, 1 of the 11 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
A603 collisions
Police recorded 126 collisions with the A603 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, fewer than 3 of them fatal or serious. That is 30.4 per 100 million vehicle miles, close to the 31.5 for all A-roads in Great Britain. On average there were 1.3 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Up 47.6% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Collisions |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 |
| 2022 | 22 |
| 2023 | 24 |
| 2024 | 28 |
| 2025 | 31 |
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 |
|---|---|
| A1307 to A1134 Cambridgeshire · 48 collisions | 202.2 |
| A421(T) to A1 Bedford, Central Bedfordshire · 27 collisions | 16.6 |
| A1198 to M11 Cambridgeshire · 17 collisions | 13.9 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 32 collisions were recorded at junctions where the A603 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 A603
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Bedford
- Central Bedfordshire
- Cambridgeshire
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 | 11 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 126 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.