Drivers in London wasted more than 100 hours in gridlock last year, contributing to a UK average of 30 hours spent in delays.

INRIX has published its 2015 Traffic Scorecard, which analysed traffic congestion in more than 100 cities worldwide.

London topped the list, with drivers wasting an average of 101 hours, or more than four days, in gridlock in 2015.

Across the UK, drivers spent 30 hours on average in delays last year, consistent with 2014, but the UK dropped to sixth in the European ranking as a result of Switzerland seeing a rise in traffic levels.

Belgium remains Europe’s most gridlocked country, with drivers stuck in traffic for 44 hours on average.

Congestion was up slightly in 11 of the 18 UK metropolitan areas in 2015, compared to 14 in 2014. The biggest increase outside of London was in Belfast, where drivers sat idle for 38 hours, impacted by roadworks on the M2 as a result of a road improvement scheme.

Birmingham experienced the biggest decline in traffic delays, with a decrease of 2.5 hours annually, which could be attributed to the completion of roadworks on the M6 and redevelopment projects in the city centre.

The UK economy continues to grow, increasing by 2.2% in 2015. Unemployment fell to 5.1%, its lowest level in nearly ten years. The UK population is expected to have hit 65 million in 2015, an annual increase of up to 500,000. These factors continue to have an adverse impact on traffic levels, with an increasing number of roadwork, building and construction projects nationwide, more commercial and private vehicles on the road and more people commuting to work by car.

Urbanisation is a key driver of congestion, and London’s population topped 8.6 million last year, the highest since its 1939 peak, increasing by more than 100,000. This contributed to drivers in the capital spending a record 101 hours on average stuck in traffic, the first time a city has surpassed 100 hours wasted in gridlock in a year. As a result, London tops INRIX’s congestion ranking of major cities worldwide and remains Europe’s gridlock capital for the second year running.

“London is the victim of its own success, with a robust jobs market and a growing economy attracting more people, more construction and consequently more traffic,” said Bryan Mistele, president and CEO of INRIX.

“Transport for London is tackling this problem with its £4 billion Road Modernisation Plan. Whilst in the short term the roadworks from this initiative are frustrating for drivers, they are a step towards creating a more sustainable and modernised transport network.”

UK’s ten most congested metropolitan areas in 2015 (ranked by annual hours wasted):

Rank	UK Metropolitan Area	Hours Wasted in 2015	Change from 2014 (in Hours)
1	London Commute Zone	101	+5.2
2	Gr. Manchester	51	-0.4
3	Gr. Belfast	38	+0.9
4	Merseyside	37	+0.3
5	S. Nottinghamshire	35	+0.6
6	Birmingham / Black Country	34	-2.5
7	Avon & N. Somerset	30	-0.4
8	Leeds-Bradford	29	+0.3
9	Coventry & Warwick	28	+0.3
10	S. Yorkshire	27	-0.3

 

Britain’s Most Congested Roads

INRIX also identified the worst congested roads in the UK, as well as the worst times to travel. London roads were the busiest during the mid-week rush-hour with the A217 experiencing the most congestion in the country, delaying motorists by 110 hours – 26 hours more than the next worst road, the A215 from Camberwell to Croydon.

Outside of the capital, a five-mile stretch of the A8 in Edinburgh was the most congested road with drivers spending an average of 43 hours in gridlock.

The UK’s most congested roads in 2015 (ranked by annual hours wasted):

 

Rank	Area	Road	From	To	Distance (Miles)	Worst Peak Period	Worst Day/Hour	Total Delay Per Year (Hours)
1	London	A217	Rosehill Roundabout	New Kings Road	10.37	AM	Weds 08:00	110.32
2	London	A215	Albany Road: Camberwell	Shirley Road: Croydon	9.54	PM	Fri 18:00	84.04
3	London	A4	Henlys Roundabout: Hounslow	Holborn Circus	14.64	AM	Weds 09:00	80.96
4	London	A4	Aldwych	Henlys Roundabout: Hounslow	14.09	PM	Weds 18:00	77.96
5	London	A23	Thornton Heath	Westminster Bridge	8.6	PM	Tues 08:00	76.12

 

The UK’s most congested roads outside London in 2015 (ranked by annual hours wasted):

 

Rank	Area	Road	From	To	Distance (Miles)	Worst Peak Period	Worst Day/Hour	Total Delay Per Year (Hours)
1	Edinburgh	A8	Princes Street	Maybury Road	5.3	PM	Tues 17:00	42.96
2	Manchester	A580	Boothstown: Worsley	Swinton Park Manchester	7.18	AM	Tues 08:00	33.48
3	Manchester	M60	J9 Trafford Park	J13 Worsley	4.86	PM	Tues 17:00	23.2
4	Newcastle	A1/A1M	Washington-Birtley Services	Lobley Hill: Gateshead	5.68	PM	Fri 17:00	22.92
5	Manchester	A5103	M60 J5: Northenden	Mancunian Way	4.55	AM	Mon 08:00	21.16

 

UK vs. Europe: How do we Measure Up?

Of the 13 European countries analysed, 70% experienced a decrease in congestion in 2015. This can be attributed to a sluggish Europe-wide economy, with an average quarterly GDP growth rate of 0.3% in the second half of last year, which remains below the pre-crisis peak of 2008.

Belgium topped the list with drivers spending 44 hours in traffic congestion, followed by the Netherlands (39 hours) and Germany (38). Despite traffic being up in 61% of cities, the UK moved down to sixth.

Countries in Europe with the highest levels of congestion (ranked by annual hours wasted):

 

European Country 2015 Rank	European Country 2014 Rank	Country	2014 Avg. Hours Wasted	2015 Avg. Hours Wasted	Change from 2014 in Hours
1	1	Belgium	51	44	-6.3
2	2	Netherlands	41	39	-1.5
3	3	Germany	39	38	-0.7
4	4	Luxemburg	34	33	-0.9
5	6	Switzerland	29	30	1.2
6	5	UK	30	30	-0.1
7	7	France	29	28	-0.3
8	8	Austria	25	25	0.4
9	9	Ireland	24	25	0.5
10	10	Italy	20	19	-0.6
11	11	Spain	17	18	0.2
12	12	Portugal	6	6	-0.2
13	13	Hungary	5	5	-1.0

 

The Traffic Situation in Europe’s Cities

Although London topped the list of Europe’s most gridlocked cities, Stuttgart experienced the highest increase, reaching 73 average hours wasted in 2015, an increase of 14% from 2014. This propelled Stuttgart from fifth to second in the ranking, which can be attributed to low fuel prices, a record number of new registered vehicles and more people commuting to work by car. Cologne, which took the title of Germany’s most congested city last year, slips to fourth, and Antwerp moves up to third. Both Cologne (5.2 hours) and Antwerp (6.6) experienced significant increases in delays.

Brussels – Europe’s most congested city in 2012 and 2013 and second to London in 2014 – experienced a significant drop in delays in 2015, achieving 70 hours wasted in traffic, a decline of more than four hours from 2014 and moving the city to fifth in the ranking. Brussels recently made investments to strengthen key suburban rail services in and around the city to help ease gridlock.

Europe’s most congested metropolitan areas in 2015 (ranked by annual hours wasted):

 

Rank 2015	Rank 2014	Metro	2015 Total Hours Wasted	Change from 2014 in Hours
1	1	London Commute Zone	101	5.2
2	5	Stuttgart	73	8.5
3	4	Antwerp	71	6.6
4	3	Cologne	71	5.2
5	2	Brussels	70	-4.2
6	N/a	Moscow	57	N/a
7	6	Karlsruhe	54	-8.9
8	14	Munich	53	4.5
9	9	Utrecht	53	0.1
10	7	Milan	52	-5.0
11	11	Gr. Manchester	51	-0.4
12	8	Düsseldorf	50	-3.2
13	12	s-Gravenhage (The Hague)	48	-2.6
14	15	Rotterdam	46	-2.1
15	16	Paris	45	0.1

 

How Europe Compares to Cities Worldwide

At the global city level, London tops the list of gridlock-plagued cities, with 101 hours of delay, followed by Los Angeles (81 hours), Washington D.C. (75), San Francisco (75), Houston (74), New York (73), Stuttgart (73), Antwerp (71), Cologne (71) and Brussels (70). Drivers using the top 10 worst roads globally waste on average 110 hours a year, or more than 4.5 days, in gridlock. Of these, four are in Los Angeles, three in Moscow, followed by roads in London, Brussels and Munich.

Of the countries measured by the INRIX Traffic Scorecard, the U.S. leads with the highest annual hours wasted in traffic – an average of nearly 50 hours in 2015 – outranking Belgium (44 hours), Netherlands (39), Germany (38), Luxembourg (33), Switzerland (30), UK (30) and France (28).