How online shopping fuels Gridlock Britain
Delivery vans clogging up streets as ‘traffic jams cost individuals and businesses billions in wasted time’
BRITAIN’s love affair with online shopping is causing gridlock on the roads, a major report has warned.
Although cars are being driven less in major town centres, a surge in delivery vans to ferry goods to homes and offices has fuelled a rise in congestion.
Drivers wasted an average of 31 hours stuck in traffic last year at a cost of £1,168, according to analysis of traffic levels in 111 towns and cities across the UK.
This includes wasted fuel and time, as well as indirect costs such as higher prices for household goods as firms pass on their rising freight bills to customers.
The total cost to the economy was more than £37billion last year – a figure described as ‘astonishing’.
The findings from traffic analyst Inrix highlight the scale of the challenge facing the Westminster Government, which is already investing £1.1billion to tackle congestion.
Chancellor Philip Hammond has identified traffic as one of the factors holding back productivity, with people spending too much time travelling.
London was ranked as the second most congested city in Europe, after Moscow, and seventh in the world.
In scotland, Great Western Road in Glasgow – officially known as the A82 – was revealed as scotland’s worst bottleneck. Commuters making the daily journey in and out of Glasgow can expect to be caught in the logjam for 23 hours a year.
The next three slowest thoroughfares are all in Edinburgh – the A902 Ferry Road into Leith; the A701 between Liberton and Newington and the A702 from the city bypass to Morningside.
However, overall, Aberdeen – which has a new bypass opening within months – remains the most congested city in scotland.
Dr Graham Cookson, chief economist at Inrix and the report’s author, said: ‘The cost of congestion is astonishing. It takes billions out of the economy and impacts businesses and individuals.
‘Delivery vans often park in loading bays – or don’t park where they should. They are also stopping frequently, which is driving up congestion in city centres.’
RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: ‘These figures bring into sharp focus a reality suffered by commuters up and down the UK every year – that in some areas our roads are struggling to cope under the sheer weight of traffic.’
But three of scotland’s big cities saw major improvements in traffic flow, with congestion down 20 per cent in Aberdeen, 15 per cent in Glasgow and 10 per cent in Edinburgh.
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf welcomed improvements across major cities and highlighted projects – such as the £1.4billion Queensferry Crossing and £3billion dualling of the A9 – as part of ‘the largest road investment programme scotland has ever seen’.
He said: ‘With planned maintenance, we work with our operating companies to minimise disruption and the majority of work is carried out during quieter periods.’
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: ‘While the council is committed to encouraging sustainable and active forms of travel, it has little influence over the low cost of motoring, which unfortunately still encourages an overreliance on the car.’