Manchester is the second most congested city in the country after London according to a new report out this morning.
Manchester drivers spent thirty nine hours on average stuck in traffic in 2016 and congestion costs the economy £233m says the study by traffic analysts Inrix.
They found that Britain is only behind Russia and Turkey for congestion in Europe. London, however, remains the second most congested city in the continent, where drivers were found to spend 73 hours on average stuck in traffic in 2016.
That figure had actually fallen from 103 hours in the previous year whilst Manchester’s had risen from thirty.Aberdeen ranks as the third most congested city in the country with drivers spending 30 hours stuck in traffic on average.
The study analysed 87 cities and large urban areas in the UK and found the cost from wasting fuel, time and productivity for all drivers totalled £30.8 billion in 2016, an average of £968 per driver.
Graham Cookson, chief economists at Inrix said: “Despite Brexit, 2016 saw the UK economy remaining stable, fuel prices staying low and employment growing to an 11-year high, all of which incentivizes road travel and helped increase congestion as the 2016 Traffic Scorecard demonstrates.”
Cookson also advocated the use of road tolls and other fees to cut congestion: “The cost of this congestion is staggering, stripping the economy of billions, impacting businesses and costing consumers dearly. To tackle this problem, we must consider bold options such as remote working, wider use of road user charging and investment in big data to create more effective and intelligent transportation systems.”
