Drivers’ 32 hrs a year in traffic
North suffers as London gets lion’s share of transport cash
MORE money is being invested on transport in London than the rest of the country put together – with the North lagging seriously behind.
The revelations come in a study that shows £1,943 is being spent per person in the capital compared with £427 in the North – four-and-a-half times more.
London receives 54% of the cash being invested on the whole of England’s transport network, according to the research.
The report by think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research North warns the gap is “set to get even worse”.
The study said “chronic public underinvestment” is the root cause of problems with the roads and railways in the North.
Grace Blakeley, who wrote the report, said: “The North needs to take back control over transport spending to sensibly invest in a range of northern infrastructure projects to unlock more potential.”
The figures are based on projects with public or public/private funding that are under construction or planned.
Crossrail, the east-west line in the capital, will alone cost £4.7billion from 2016/17 – the total for every project in the North is £6.6billion.
The report said that between 2011/12 and 2015/16 public spending on transport in the capital averaged £725 per head compared to £352 across the country.
The Department for Transport said: “We are investing £13billion to improve transport across the North to improve journeys for local people, help industry grow and boost productivity.
“Transport for the North is working with councils to develop a Northern Transport Strategy to benefit the region as a whole.” DRIVERS spend an average of 32 hours a year stuck in traffic during peak times, as the UK has the third worst congestion in Europe.
The most severe bottlenecks are in London, followed by Manchester, Aberdeen and Birmingham.
Congestion costs the economy £31billion a year.
Traffic data firm Inrix analysed tailbacks in 1,000 cities. Russia was the most gridlocked country studied, followed by Turkey and the UK.
Graham Cookson, of Inrix, said: “Congestion is stripping the economy of billions, impacting businesses and costing consumers dearly.”