Manchester tops the table of the most congested English areas outside London.
A report from the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) showed Liverpool and Birmingham taking up the next two places behind Manchester. The highest placed area that is not a city is the area of Accrington and Rossendale at number 26.
The NIC said its analysis had adopted ‘a new approach to measuring traffic congestion’, calculating the real-life experience of drivers and how this will vary over a range of journeys, rather than using average speeds.
In March, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham published a ‘Congestion Deal’ with a number of proposals to reduce traffic levels including improved public transport and a high occupancy vehicle lane.
Although he has said that a Clean Air Zone for the Manchester city region could restrict certain vehicles from operating in polluted areas, he has ruled out any form of congestion charge.
The NIC repeated its call for major new investment in the UK’s urban transport networks. Its National Infrastructure Assessment recommends greater powers be devolved to metro mayors and local leaders to improve urban transport, backed by £43bn extra funding to 2040.
This story first appeared on Transport-Network
