Skip to main content

UK’s roads most congested in Europe

The results of a European traffic study should surprise few UK drivers. According to the research by Inrix, the UK has Europe’s most congested roads. The study evaluated traffic densities in 123 major cities across Europe and revealed 20,375 areas in the UK where traffic congestion is a problem. By comparison Germany had less than half as many areas where traffic is a problem. This is in spite of the fact that Germany has a significantly higher population than the UK. According to the study, a spot where
November 30, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The results of a European traffic study should surprise few UK drivers. According to the research by 5367 Inrix, the UK has Europe’s most congested roads. The study evaluated traffic densities in 123 major cities across Europe and revealed 20,375 areas in the UK where traffic congestion is a problem. By comparison Germany had less than half as many areas where traffic is a problem. This is in spite of the fact that Germany has a significantly higher population than the UK.

According to the study, a spot where traffic congestion is an issue is a section of road for which a driver has to reduce speed by 65% for a minimum of two minutes. The data used in the research was collated using information from on-board GPS systems and cellphones during September 2016. The study evaluated traffic in cities with populations of 250,000 or more. In the UK, 21 cities of the required size had 20,375 areas of congestion, compared with 8,517 congestion spots in 27 German cities, 5,069 spots in 12 Italian cities, 1,844 spots in nine French cities and 2,335 spots in 16 Spanish cities.

The most congested section of road in Europe is Hamburg’s A7 Autobahn. In the UK, the M25 around London and the A720 Edinburgh bypass suffer the most frequent delays. The M25 in particular carries 250,000 vehicles/day, with the section between Junctions 15 and 16 having the most frequent hold ups for drivers.

The UK Government is planning to spend £1.3 billion on improving the road network, with £220 million being targeted at cutting congestion on sections known to suffer delays.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Trafficnow and Isbak win Istanbul contract
    May 13, 2013
    Trafficnow and Isbak are working together to provide 250 DeepBlue Sensors in Turkey’s commercial centre Istanbul. These units will be installed along all the major corridors and access points of the city and the deal also includes the DeepBlue Core centralised system. This award is of note and could help make a major contribution to taming Istanbul’s notoriously congested streets. Split between Asia and Europe, Istanbul has some 2.6 million vehicles on its road network of 25,000km as well as a population of
  • Young Driver Risk
    April 16, 2018
    Police in the US state of Ohio recently found themselves in a high-speed pursuit involving a vehicle taken without its owner’s consent. The chase lasted for around one hour and the vehicle hit speeds of up to 160km/h during the pursuit, which covered a distance of around 72km in all between Cleveland and Milan. Officers managed to box the car in and bring it to a halt, without anyone being injured. The driver was a 10-year-old boy who took his mother’s car, the second time that the lad had done this in just
  • A6 project between Weinsberg and Wiesloch/Rauenberg set to start
    January 26, 2017
    Work will soon start on the €1.3 billion project to widen a stretch of the A6 motorway, one of Germany’s most congested highways. Both sides of the motorway between the Weinsberg and Wiesloch/Rauenberg junctions will be expanded. On 25 km of the section being expanded under the project – altogether 47.1 km – the number of lanes will be increased from four to six. The project also encompasses the construction of the 1.3km-long Neckartal Bridge. Preparatory work for the public-private partnership has
  • Asphalt milling optimised by 3D controls
    February 20, 2012
    3D machine controls can optimise milling efficiency, Mike Woof reports. More efficient milling and recycling operations can be carried out by using the latest 3D control systems on the market. At the last Trimble Dimensions event in Las Vegas, the advantages of 3D controls for milling operations proved a key topic. The use of 3D control systems can offer huge advantages in milling operations. This technology helps increase productivity as the milling machine will only remove what is required, which also hel