Scotish communters grinding to a standstill as city-centre speeds plummet

If it feels like your daily commute is taking longer and longer it’s probably because it is.

New data shows that average driving speeds in many of Britain’s major cities, including Edinburgh and Glasgow, are falling, adding time and frustration to the daily slog to and from work.

In glasgow, london and manchester average speeds within a mile of the city centres have dropped by more than 1mph since last year.

Speeds in London are the worst in the country at just 5.13mph within a mile of the centre and 8.34 within five miles but other major cities are almost as bad. Edinburgh motorists achieve an average of just 6.64 mph within a mile of the centre and just 12.38 within five miles, and those in glasgow also plod along at an average of 6.82 mph a mile from the centre and 15.79 within five.

The latest Department for Transport figures show that traffic volumes across the country rose 1.7 percent between April 2016 and March 2017 to a total of 324.3 billion miles. With such rises it’s perhaps unsurprising that journeys are taking longer for the estimated two-thirds of us who commute on a daily basis.

The figures were revealed by analysing data from 400,000 journeys gathered over three months byte le ma ti cs firm In car cleverness. its head of sales, Paul O’dowd, commented: “The figures paint a stark picture of how everyday commuters, drivers and even businesses are struggling to get around.

“It is likely down to a few factors. Overall traffic volumes are higher and this increase will be most noticeable in urban areas. As well as more traffic on the roads, major cities are increasingly introducing tighter speed restrictions while adopting more bus lanes, as well as cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.”