Skip to main content

London wins prize that no-one wants

UK capital is most congested city in world - again! - says Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard
By Adam Hill January 11, 2023 Read time: 2 mins
Oh, and it was probably raining too (© Cindy21c | Dreamstime.com)

For the second year in a row, London has topped the Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard as the most congested city in the world.

No cause for celebration, it means the average London driver lost 156 hours of his or her life sitting in traffic in 2022.

But London only just pipped the US city of Chicago - a very, very close second with drivers drumming their fingers on the steering wheel and honking their horns in frustration for 155 hours.

In third place is - quelle horreur! - Paris, the City of Light, whose radical reimagining of its streets to favour pedestrians, cyclists and micromobility has not made it immune from the frustrations of l'embouteillage.

Parisien drivers lost 138 hours - and probably some of their sanity at times - in queues.

Inrix says that traffic delays exceeded pre-Covid levels in 39% of urban areas in the US (116 out of 295), and 42% in Europe (249 out of 593).

In the UK, traffic delays increased 72% in urban areas (79 out of 110), while in Germany, 51% of urban areas saw more delay than in 2019 (37 out of 72).

The typical US driver lost 51 hours due to congestion in 2022, a 15-hour increase over 2021. In the UK, a driver lost 80 hours (up seven hours) while in Germany there was no change, at 40 hours.

In financial terms, this equates to losses for drivers of $81 billion in 2022 in the US, with UK drivers out of pocket to the tune of nearly £9.5 billion and German drivers losing  €3.9 billion.

Telecommuting has appeared to ease with the onset of hybrid work, yet still exceeds pre-Covid levels.

In the UK, hybrid work increased from 13% to 24%, while working solely from home dropped from 22% to 14%.

Trips to downtowns and city centres generally increased over 2021, although they decreased in London.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Authorities look to MaaS for new solutions and cost savings
    July 18, 2017
    The structure of society and the way in which our cities work will be completely transformed by Mobility as a Service (MaaS), Finland’s minister of transport and communications Anne Berner, told ITS International’s recent MaaS Market conference 2017 in London. In her keynote address, Berner told a packed audience of more than 200 ITS professionals that MaaS has the potential to help governments around the world meet their big city targets such as the rate of employment, the environment, the efficient use of
  • Wi-Fi win-win for mass transit
    October 31, 2014
    David Crawford explores passenger and operator benefits of on-board Wi-Fi Urban commuters’ growing demand for continuous – and reliable - internet connectivity is spurring network operators into the rapid installation of high-grade Wi-Fi access on their surface and underground networks, as well as in their stations. Such moves are often a key part of strategies to maintain and increase ridership levels.
  • Australian and US cities ‘most expensive for short term parking’
    May 22, 2017
    According to the Parkopedia 2017 Global Parking Index, New York, US, and Sydney, Australia, are the most expensive cities in the world to park for two hours with an average cost of US$30, while London tops the list of the most expensive cities for monthly parking charges.
  • ULEZ money 'less than expected': TfL
    April 8, 2022
    Cash from expanded zone is lower than forecast 'due to higher compliance' from drivers