London is the most congested city in the world – again

New research has found that London drivers lost an average of 156 hours due to congestion in 2022, making it world's worst for traffic.

London Congestion Levels
Unsplash / Photoholgic

New data has revealed that London is once again the most congested city in the world, topping the charts for the second year in a row. 

The latest INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard places London at the top of the traffic league. On average, drivers in the capital lost 156 hours due to congestion in 2022, and averaged speeds of just 10mph. 

This is far ahead of the 91 hours lost by drivers in Bristol, the UK’s second-worst city for congestion, and almost double the UK average of 80 hours spent in traffic last year.

An international problem

London Congestion Levels
Unsplash / Sawyer Bengtson

In the Global Traffic Scorecard, Chicago narrowly missed out on the top spot for 2022. The Windy City saw drivers spend 155 hours gridlocked in congestion last year, making for a 49 percent increase from 2021. 

Paris completed the podium positions, with drivers delayed by an average of 138 hours in the French capital. This represented a one percent fall from 2021. As in Chicago, Paris drivers typically managed to reach just 11mph on urban roads. 

Boston, Massachusetts and New York City completed the five worst cities for congestion, with the United States accounting for half of the top 10. 

Despite a notorious reputation for traffic, Los Angeles was placed in 14th position. LA drivers spent only 95 hours in traffic during 2022.

The £9.5 billion cost of congestion

London Congestion Levels
Unsplash / Jay Wennington

INRIX notes that whilst 10 areas in the UK saw increases in traffic volumes, only London saw congestion above pre-Covid levels. 

The overall increase in congestion during 2022 is potentially due to higher volumes of light commercial vehicles (LCV), and heavy goods vehicles (HGV), on UK roads. 

LCV traffic rose by 95 percent compared to pre-Covid days, with HGVs up by 88 percent.

With motorists in the UK losing an average of 80 hours due to congestion, INRIX has calculated this cost each driver £707 in lost time.

This equates to a total cost to the country of £9.5 billion.

The continuing cost-of-living crisis has added 25 percent to the cost of fuel for commuters, too.

2022 UK Top Ten Areas For Congestion

RankUrban Area2022 DelayCity Centre Speed2022 Cost per City
1London156 Hours10mph£5.7bn
2Bristol91 Hours14mph£175m
3Manchester84 Hours14mph£191m
4Birmingham73 Hours16mph£346m
5Belfast72 Hours16mph£102m
6Nottingham71 Hours14mph£97m
7Edinburgh67 Hours16mph£150m
8Hull68 Hours16mph£74m
9Leeds60 Hours16mph£196m
10Leicester62 Hours16mph£92m

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John Redfern
John Redfern
U.S. Editor with a love of all things Americana. Woodgrain-clad station wagons and ridiculous muscle cars a speciality.

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