City shamed as one of country’s worst for jams
BIRMINGHAM has been named as one of the worst five cities in the UK for severe traffic congestion.
London was unsurprisingly named as suffering the severest jams, followed by Manchester, Aberdeen, Birmingham and Edinburgh.
Traffic congestion has long been viewed as a major problem in parts of the Second City, particularly as one of the busiest stretches of the M6 motorway runs directly through it.
Now, according to a study by traffic information company Inrix, drivers are spending an average of 32 hours a year stuck in jams during peak periods in the UK.
Researchers calculated that the direct and indirect costs of hold-ups hit £31 billion last year, an average of £968 per driver.
Inrix chief economist Graham Cookson said: “Despite Brexit, 2016 saw the UK economy remaining stable, fuel prices staying low and employment growing to an 11-year high, all of which incentivises road travel and helped increase congestion. The cost of this congestion is staggering, stripping the economy of billions, impacting businesses costing consumers dearly.
“To tackle this problem, we must consider bold options such as remote working, wider use of road user charging and investment in big data to create more effective and intelligent transportation systems.”
Aberdeen actually eclipsed London for congestion at peak periods last year as the hardest city to get into or out of, with drivers stuck in gridlock 24 per cent of the time, moving at an average speed of 5.5mph. and
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, added: “Road congestion is a high price to pay for having a successful economy, and the risk is that gridlock starts to strangle growth.
“That is why we don’t just need sustained investment, to add capacity and install better traffic management systems, we need intelligent investment planned to minimise disruption during construction, minimise maintenance requirements, and provide more flexibility for the future.”
Recent Department for Transport (DfT) figures has shown there was a record 320.5 billion vehicle miles travelled in 2016, up 1.2 per cent on the previous year.
A DfT spokesman said: “We are making the most extensive improvements to roads since the 1970s, investing a record £23 billion to keep our country moving and make journeys faster, better and more reliable for everyone.
“As announced in the 2016 Autumn Statement, we are also spending a further £1.3 billion over the course of this Parliament to relieve congestion and provide important upgrades to ensure our roads are fit for the future.”