Motorway
M49 traffic and collisions
The M49 is a motorway of 5.1 miles, from South Gloucestershire to City of Bristol. This page covers its traffic at 2 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 53m vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 28,614 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 28,614 M4 (22) to M5
- HGV share 12.1% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 +27.4% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 7 3 fatal or serious
How busy is the M49?
On an average day in 2025, 28,614 vehicles passed each point on the M49, counting both directions.
Route
South Gloucestershire to City of Bristol · 5.1 miles
M49 traffic and collisions by section
1 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 | M4 (22) to M5South Gloucestershire, City of Bristol | 28,614 | 7 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the M49 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.
M49 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 64.5% of the vehicle miles on the M49. HGVs account for 12.1%.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 17.7% |
| 2001 | 17.1% |
| 2002 | 14.9% |
| 2003 | 14.5% |
| 2004 | 15.7% |
| 2005 | 15.4% |
| 2006 | 15.2% |
| 2007 | 14.9% |
| 2008 | 12.5% |
| 2009 | 11.7% |
| 2010 | 11.5% |
| 2011 | 11.0% |
| 2012 | 11.0% |
| 2013 | 10.9% |
| 2014 | 10.7% |
| 2015 | 10.8% |
| 2016 | 10.9% |
| 2017 | 11.2% |
| 2018 | 11.4% |
| 2019 | 11.1% |
| 2020 | 14.5% |
| 2021 | 13.7% |
| 2022 | 12.5% |
| 2023 | 12.0% |
| 2024 | 12.0% |
| 2025 | 12.1% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
M49 traffic trend
Traffic on the M49 came to 53.3 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is up 27.4% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 49.4% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 117.0% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 28m |
| 2001 | 29m |
| 2002 | 36m |
| 2003 | 35m |
| 2004 | 34m |
| 2005 | 34m |
| 2006 | 34m |
| 2007 | 34m |
| 2008 | 38m |
| 2009 | 38m |
| 2010 | 38m |
| 2011 | 38m |
| 2012 | 38m |
| 2013 | 39m |
| 2014 | 39m |
| 2015 | 40m |
| 2016 | 50m |
| 2017 | 46m |
| 2018 | 46m |
| 2019 | 42m |
| 2020 | 29m |
| 2021 | 42m |
| 2022 | 49m |
| 2023 | 53m |
| 2024 | 51m |
| 2025 | 53m |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 13,311 |
| 2001 | 13,653 |
| 2002 | 16,852 |
| 2003 | 16,513 |
| 2004 | 15,843 |
| 2005 | 15,861 |
| 2006 | 15,988 |
| 2007 | 16,166 |
| 2008 | 18,052 |
| 2009 | 17,794 |
| 2010 | 17,818 |
| 2011 | 18,100 |
| 2012 | 17,869 |
| 2013 | 18,237 |
| 2014 | 18,610 |
| 2015 | 19,022 |
| 2016 | 23,734 |
| 2017 | 21,787 |
| 2018 | 21,783 |
| 2019 | 22,461 |
| 2020 | 15,748 |
| 2021 | 22,435 |
| 2022 | 26,189 |
| 2023 | 28,471 |
| 2024 | 27,541 |
| 2025 | 28,614 |
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, 2 of the 2 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
M49 collisions
Police recorded 7 collisions with the M49 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 3 of them fatal or serious.
Reported collisions by year
| Year | Collisions | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | fewer than 3 | 0 |
| 2022 | fewer than 3 | fewer than 3 |
| 2023 | fewer than 3 | fewer than 3 |
| 2024 | fewer than 3 | fewer than 3 |
| 2025 | fewer than 3 | 0 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 4 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M49 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 100.0% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions
Council areas on the M49
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- South Gloucestershire
- City of Bristol
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 | 2 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 7 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.