Congestion costs United Kingdom almost £40bn a year, report finds

A report issued on February 6, 2018, by the transportation analytics firm Inrix calculated that traffic congestion cost the United Kingdom economy £37.7 billion in 2017. The analysis found that the combined direct and indirect costs of gridlock amounted to an average of £1,168 for every motorist in the country.

The Economic and Social Costs

The INRIX 2017 Global Traffic Scorecard detailed the composition of the multi-billion pound figure. Direct costs included the value of time lost by drivers and fuel wasted while vehicles were stationary or moving slowly in traffic. Indirect costs represented the wider economic impact, such as higher fees for freight and business deliveries resulting from company vehicles idling in queues. According to the report, these increased operational costs for businesses were ultimately passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices for goods and services.

Dr. Graham Cookson, then the chief economist at Inrix, described the total cost to the economy as “astonishing.” The report emphasized that these expenses drained significant resources from the national economy and negatively affected both businesses and individual households.

London’s Severe Gridlock

London was identified as the most congested city in the United Kingdom and one of the most gridlocked in Europe. Drivers in the capital spent an average of 74 hours in traffic jams during peak periods in 2017, an increase of one hour from the previous year. The report noted that during the evening rush hour, average traffic speeds in central London could fall to as low as 3.7 miles per hour.

At the time, the single most congested corridor in the country was reported to be a section of the A406 North Circular Road in London. Motorists traveling northbound from the Chiswick roundabout to Hanger Lane were said to have lost an average of 56 hours to congestion on that specific stretch of road alone during 2016.

Regional Congestion Trends

While London faced the most severe delays, the problem was widespread and growing in many other urban areas. Seven locations across the UK experienced double-digit percentage increases in the number of hours drivers lost to traffic. Among the most affected were Wrexham, where time lost in queues rose by 17 percent, Mansfield by 15 percent, and Bath by 12 percent.

However, the report also documented improvements in certain regions. Traffic flow in central Scotland and around Aberdeen reportedly improved. This positive development was attributed by Dr. Cookson to the completion of major infrastructure projects, including significant roadworks on the M8, M73, and M74 motorways, which had previously caused major delays but were now easing journeys.

Policy Responses and Proposed Measures

The report’s findings prompted discussion about potential solutions to mitigate the economic damage of congestion. Dr. Cookson suggested that transport authorities should explore policies such as encouraging more flexible working hours and implementing road charges. He also pointed to the potential of using advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence to create more sophisticated and responsive traffic management systems.

In response to such findings, a spokeswoman for the Welsh Government at the time confirmed plans for multi-billion pound investments in the nation’s infrastructure, including major improvements to the M4, A55, A40, and A494 roads. The report’s authors also noted the necessity of providing reliable and practical public transport alternatives to the car, highlighting what they termed an “uncomfortable truth” that car ownership remained a necessity for millions of people living outside of major metropolitan centers.

Questions about this record