Skip to main content

Real-time driving data reveals rush hour congestion on London’s road during tube strike

Following the warning by London Underground chiefs of tube strikes until lunchtime Wednesday 8 February, Waze, the real-time crowd-sourced sat nav app, issued data collected during the strike on 9 January to show, for the first time, just how badly London's commuters are affected by strike action. According to Waze, on 9th January, data at the peak-time 8.05am showed that 24 per cent of traffic was bumper to bumper– effectively standstill; at this time on a normal day it is usually around 12 per cent. Th
February 6, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Following the warning by London Underground chiefs of tube strikes until lunchtime Wednesday 8 February, 6897 Waze, the real-time crowd-sourced sat nav app, issued data collected during the strike on 9 January to show, for the first time, just how badly London's commuters are affected by strike action.

According to Waze, on 9th January, data at the peak-time 8.05am showed that 24 per cent of traffic was bumper to bumper– effectively standstill; at this time on a normal day it is usually around 12 per cent. There was also 34 per cent heavy traffic, so nearly 60 per cent of total traffic at crawling or worse. Trips took on average 1hr 12 minutes longer than usual to get from Uxbridge to East Acton when approaching city from the West.

Waze says the worst routes included Temple to Trafalgar Square (1 mile) which took 40 minutes (34 minutes more than usual). By comparison, this route should take 13 minutes to walk.

On Brecknock Road, Kentish Town, speed was down to 1mph, taking 33 minutes longer than usual to travel from Brecknock Road to Junction Road in North London.

The M4 motorway near Chiswick was jammed, adding 25 minutes to the drive.

Many roads in central London were running slow, adding 20-35 minutes to travel under two miles.

During the evening rush hour period, follow up statistics at 5.30pm showed 25 per cent of London was at a standstill and 35 per cent of the capital was stuck in heavy traffic, travelling at under 5 mph.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Success of London’s contactless payments
    September 19, 2014
    More than 128,000 taps using contactless payment cards and devices have been made since Transport for London (TfL) launched the new option to pay across the London transport network on 16 September. The first day saw contactless used at more than 600 train stations across the Tube, DLR, Overground and National Rail stations that accept Oyster. Contactless payments have been available on the bus network since December 2012. This week has seen a further significant rise in the number of taps on buses w
  • Report proposes autonomous transport system for London
    July 14, 2014
    A wide-ranging report produced by transport expert Professor David Begg, A 2050 vision for London, looks at the impact that the rise of autonomous transport systems might have on UK cities, and in particular London. Begg’s report proposes 10mph zones for traffic near schools and in busy areas and suggests that the safety of and efficiency of London's transport network could be improved by the introduction of driverless vehicles. Speeds for automated buses could be restricted by remote control, while
  • MassDOT joins Waze connected citizens program
    June 17, 2016
    The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has entered a data-sharing partnership with Waze, the real-time traffic navigation app, to provide motorists with real-time traffic conditions across Massachusetts in a bid to ease traffic congestion. Designed as a free, two-way data share of publicly available, crowd-sourced traffic information, the Connected Citizens Program promotes greater efficiency, deeper insights and safer roads for citizens of Massachusetts along with more than 70 other partners aro
  • London needs just one road user charge, says report
    July 8, 2019
    London’s patchwork of road charging schemes should be replaced by a single, distance-based user charge, according to new research. Apart from anything else, it would be much fairer… The UK capital’s multiple road charging schemes require a radical overhaul, according to a new report by the Centre for London thinktank. The suggested solution is to replace existing levies on drivers with a single, distance-based user charge which would more fairly reflect how much, and at what time, people are using London