The bar chart shows the average daily number of car journeys into the city centre made by residents and non-residents between 1996 and 2005.
Overall, journeys made by residents showed a clear decrease, especially after traffic control measures were introduced. In contrast, trips by non-residents increased at first and then declined, and by the end of the period non-residents made more journeys into the city centre than residents.
In the late 1990s, residents were the main group travelling by car into the city centre. In 1996, they made about 10,000 journeys per day, and this figure stayed relatively stable until 1999, fluctuating between 9,000 and 10,000. During the same period, journeys made by non-residents rose steadily from approximately 5,000 in 1996 to around 8,000 in 1999, which reduced the gap between the two groups. This shows that car use among non-residents increased.
After parking meters were introduced in 2000, resident car journeys dropped sharply to about 5,000 and continued to fall in the following years, reaching roughly 2,500 by 2005. Non-resident journeys, however, remained high at just over 8,000 in the early 2000s and peaked at around 8,500 in 2002. Following the closure of key streets in 2003, these figures declined noticeably, falling to about 5,500 by the end of the period.