TomTom: Congestion costs on UK businesses increase by £148m

UK Congestion is costing businesses £915m ($1,229m) a year in lost productivity, according to the latest figures revealed by TomTom’s (TT’s) Traffic Index. Findings showed this figure is an increase of £148m ($198m) from last year’s £767m ($1,030m).
December 14, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
UK Congestion is costing businesses £915m ($1,229m) a year in lost productivity, according to the latest figures revealed by 1692 TomTom’s (TT’s) Traffic Index. Findings showed this figure is an increase of £148m ($198m) from last year’s £767m ($1,030m).


In London, £264m ($354m) is lost each year, followed by Manchester (£169,256,880) ($227,486,467) and the Birmingham area, including Wolverhampton (£144,184,320) ($193,773,012).

According to the Index’s ranking of the most congested cities, London and Edinburgh both have an average congestion of 40%; with 19 and 21 working days lost per vehicle per year. In addition, Manchester has an average congestion of 38% with 21 working days lost per vehicle per year.

Traffic across the UK’s 25 most congested cities and towns increase the time each vehicle spends on the road by an average of 129 hours a year, which equates to an average commercial vehicle driver wasting more than 16 working days stuck in traffic.

Findings also revealed that traffic has been getting continuously worse since 2010, with an average journey now taking 30% longer than it would in free-flowing conditions.  

Beverley Wise, director UK & Ireland for TT Telematics, said: “Traffic remains a serious issue for business and the resulting delays have potential implications for productivity, customer service standards and even employee wellbeing. Unfortunately, congestion levels continue to rise and the UK economy is paying the price for this at a time when the landscape is already challenging enough, with the growth rate now expected to be just 1.5% this year.

“But, although solutions to the wider traffic problem are incredibly complex, businesses can take action now to mitigate its effect by using data to develop smarter working schedules and shift patterns that help employees avoid driving at peak times. Technology such as telematics can help in the move towards a more dynamic model of routing and scheduling that uses data on traffic and journey times to develop plans that minimise time on the road and can be quickly adapted in reaction to delays or changing circumstances.”

Air Quality & Weather Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Price comparison website calls for reduction of traffic lights on UK roads
    August 25, 2016
    Price-comparison website Confused.com is calling for a re-think on traffic lights in the UK in order to reduce congestion. This is supported by an Institute of Economic Affairs report which puts the cost of delays caused by traffic controls at US$21 billion (£16 billion) a year. It also states that four in five (80%) traffic lights in the UK could be removed to boost the economy and road safety. New research by Confused.com reveals that the average UK driver spends 48.5 hours a year stationary at traffic
    Read More
  • Air quality tops transportation agendas
    November 17, 2014
    Colin Sowman catches up on some of the latest research around outdoor pollution and looks at options available to authorities in areas of poor air quality. Iair quality hasn’t already reached the top of the agenda in transportation department meetings in your area, it probably soon will with national, trans-national and even global bodies calling for authorities to reduce pollution levels.
    Read More
  • Statistical improvement for short-term travel time predictions
    June 2, 2014
    Researchers at Imperial College in London have developed a generic three-stage short-term travel prediction model that promises to give greater accuracy under both normal and abnormal conditions. As travellers do not like the randomness of non-recurrent traffic congestion and delays, it is particularly useful for network managers to know how the ongoing traffic situation will develop when an atypical event occurs.
    Read More
  • White paper examines ITS application across four major cities
    December 19, 2017
    Frost & Sullivan and Isbak have released a white paper examining how intelligent transportation systems (ITS) used in Singapore, London, New York and Istanbul are being used on existing roadways to reduce congestion and emissions efficiently. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of transportation policies, implementation methods, best practices and challenges for key cities and how commuters, city management councils and the environment could benefit from ITS implementation.
    Read More

Highlighted Content