Driving will be slower than riding a bicycle

CARS will travel slower than bicycles on the country’s congested roads within a decade, official figures show.

The Department for Transport revealed that the average vehicle speed of cars on A-roads in towns and cities in 2017 had dropped to just 18.4mph, down from 19.3mph in 2014.

If this rate of decline continues, cars will be travelling slower than bicycles by 2027, based on 16mph, the average speed of a male cyclist according to Strava, the activity website.

The findings prompted motoring groups to call for the Government to allow councils to re-sequence traffic lights and let cars use bus lanes to improve traffic flow in towns and cities.

Traffic speeds have been in steady decline across England’s A-road network over the past three years, with average speeds at morning rush hour down to 23.7mph across both rural and urban roads. During the evening rush hour this figure slows to 22.2mph.

The department also records the hold-ups drivers experience, with motorists delayed for 46.9 seconds for every mile they travelled in 2017 across all A-roads. This figure increases to 56.1 seconds for every mile travelled during morning rush hour and 65.8 seconds for every mile travelled during the evening rush hour.

Given that the National Travel Survey estimates that the average household commutes 2,800 miles per year, this means that it loses around 47 hours due to traffic delays over 12 months.

There is significant variation in average road speeds across local authority areas. All 10 of the slowest areas in England are in London with the worst being the City of London, where average A-road traffic speeds were as low as 7.6mph last year.

Manchester, which has the slowest speeds outside of London, crawls along at an average of 15.3mph while Rutland in the East Midlands had the fastest average at 41.6mph.

Campaigners have urged ministers to come up with bolder proposals to improve traffic flow in towns and cities.

The RAC said that “this should include extra investment into reducing congestion at pinch-points, looking at further town bypasses to redirect traffic, and re-sequencing traffic lights so authorities are optimising traffic flow”.

It also suggested “‘smart’ bus lanes to clearly indicate when they are open to other vehicles outside of operational hours – thus maximising road space”.

Nicholas Lyes, the RAC roads policy spokesman, said: “This will come as little surprise to motorists who are having to endure increasingly congested roads. Congestion is not only frustrating, it is costing the country money and worsening air quality in our cities and other urban areas.

“At some point, the Government may even have to look at road pricing as an alternative to the current taxation system to help manage demand.”

Edmund King, the president of the Automobile Association, said: “For years, the AA has argued that more could be done to encourage drivers to leave their cars on the outskirts and take public transport or car share into

urban centres. But, a lack of joined-up thinking ... or a desperate urge to milk cash from drivers in the form of parking charges, has left car commuters with no option but to join the queues.”

A Greenpeace spokesman said: “This should be another red light flashing on the government dashboard. Air pollution and congestion go hand in hand.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said the Government was investing £23 billion in roads “to help cut congestion, shorten journey times and boost the economy”.

He added: “We recently launched plans which will see utility companies charged up to £2,500 a day to carry out works on Britain’s busiest local roads – incentivising firms to work on quieter roads or outside of rush hour – to cut delays due to roadworks.”