Last year London drivers sat in 82 hours of idle traffic, making it the second most congested city in Europe, according to new research by INRIX. Idling times in London are up by 10 hours, with congestion in other UK cities up in nine out of 18 cases. After London, Greater Manchester is the second most congested city with an average of 46 hours of idling time, followed by Merseyside and South Nottinghamshire, both with 39 hours; surprisingly Birmingham was in 5th place, with 33 hours. Drivers across the UK wasted on average 30 hours in traffic congestion in 2013, although this was half of the time of the worst offender, Belgium; idle times in Netherlands, France, Germany and Luxembourg were also higher than in Britain. Traffic congestion across Europe increased around six per cent in the last three-quarters of the year. Among the highest congested roads in the UK include LondonÕs A4, between central London and the M4, and the A215, between Camberwell and Croydon. LondonÕs congestion times were only one hour greater than the worst congestion offender, Brussels, whose drivers spend 83 hours in traffic. Bryan Mistele, CEO of INRIX, says that BritainÕs relatively high commuting times arenÕt all bad news: So goes traffic, so goes the economy. While bad news for drivers, increases in traffic congestion in Europe are signs of a slowly recovering economy.Ó The UK economy grew around 1.9 per cent in 2013, the strongest growth since 2007, with unemployment falling steadily and adding to traffic congestion as more people join the daily commute. Statistics shows that nations struggling with high unemployment or low economic growth in 2013 had lower congestion figures than in 2012, with Spain and Portugal both prime examples of this. With higher levels of congestion, there is a growing need for commuters and fleet providers to seek out more carbon-friendly vehicle technologies. As a result, the Government now offers extra incentives for London-based drivers to buy electric vehicles, providing exemptions from congestion charges.
