Traffic congestion in the UK’s biggest cities is 14% worse than it was five years ago, according to the results of a new report.
The annual Traffic Index from TomTom shows that while the UK is becoming more blocked with traffic, the rest of Europe is actually 3% less congested than it was back in 2010. The Index reavels that the average car journey in the UK took 29% longer in 2015 than it would in free-flowing conditions.
The analysis of traffic data also showed that Belfast was once again the most congested city in the UK, with journey times in 2015 being 40% slower than free-flow traffic throughout the day. London is the second worst in the UK, with Manchester moving up into third place.
Ralf-Peter Schaefer, vice-president of TomTom Traffic, said: ‘Transport authorities are managing congestion with well-engineered policies, but you can’t just build your way out of traffic jams.
‘Studies have shown that policies of ‘predict and provide’ are unsustainable. Building new motorways and ring roads doesn’t eliminate congestion. More must be done to better manage existing road space and to spread demand.’
