There was actually a LOT of traffic around during WW2 most of it military. An infantry Division could have as many as 5000 vehicles ranging from motorcycles for messengers through staff cars , tracked carriers, armoured vehicles, to the Bedford QL truck over 50.000 of which were built. By 1944 a division at full strength had a manpower level of 18,000 men and it was fully mechanised by 1939Conekicker wrote: ↑Mon Mar 30, 2020 18:27 I'm not trawling through 22 pages to see if this has been asked before but has there been any estimate made as to when national traffic flows have been as low as they currently are?
I'd hazard a guess that we're possibly looking at WW2 levels.
My father told that when the 50th (Tyne Tees Divsion) was moving to the south coast for D-Day it took half a day to pass a given point. Transporting the British, Canadian and US forces from their depots to the invasion potys made bank holiday traffic look light. The standing joke at the time was that the only thing preventing Southern England sinking was the barrage balloons
The list below only includes British built WW2 vehicles, large numbers of Lend Lease vehicles were also supplied from the USA.
Armoured personnel carriers
Universal carrier (84,120)
Loyd Carrier (26,000)
Terrapin (200), an amphibious vehicle
Armoured cars
AEC Armoured Car (629)
Daimler Armoured Car (2,694)
Daimler Scout Car (Dingo) (6,626)
Guy Armoured Car (101)
Humber Armoured Car (5,400)
Humber Light Reconnaissance Car (over 3,600)
Humber Scout Car (at least 4,102)
Lanchester Armoured Car (35)
Lynx Canadian version of Daimler Dingo
Morris Light Reconnaissance Car (over 2,200)
Morris CS9 (100)
Standard Beaverette (~2,800)
Lorries
AEC Armoured Command Vehicle (415)
Albion WD.CX24 Tank Transporter
Austin K2/Y Ambulance. (13,102)
Austin K3
Austin K4
Austin K4 Dropside
Austin K5
Austin K6 GS
Austin K6 Gantry
Bedford MW
Bedford OXA Armoured
Bedford OXC Semi-trailer
Bedford OXD GS
Bedford OYC Tanker
Bedford OYD GS
Bedford QLB Bofors.
Bedford QLD GS.
Bedford QLR/QLC Radio/communications.
Bedford QLT Troop carrier.
Crossley Q-Type.
GMC DUKW six-wheel-drive amphibious truck
Guy Ant
Guy Lizard Armoured Command Vehicle
Humber FWD
Karrier K6
Leyland Hippo Mk II
Morris 15cwt
Morris ML Ambulance
Morris C8 GS
Morris Commercial CD series.
Morris Commercial CS8.
Morris Commercial 8x8 GS Terrapin amphibious truck
Scammell Pioneer Semi-trailer SV1S and SV2S (~500)
We tend to think of the German Army as being a mechanised force but most of their transport vehicles were horse drawn. To give an example when they prepared to break out of the landing area in France 21st Army Group had 152,499 vehicles in a lodgement area just 20 miles (32 km) wide and 10 miles (16 km) deep. This is why the Mulberry harbours were built, trucks could drive straight off a landing ship onto the harbour and drive off. They were the first RoRo channel ferries.
Army engineers fixed potholes, built bypasses around villages with narrow streets and built additional bridges to keep the supplies moving. After the end of the war my dad spent the next 2 years repairing roads in Germany including Autobahns before being demobbed in late 1947.