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

  • Europe spends €112 billion per year on fossil fuels despite Phase-out plans
    September 29, 2017
    The European Governments and EU are subsidising €112 billion each year for the production and consumption of fossil fuels, claims a new report from the Overseas Development Institute and Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe – violating the Paris Agreement’s phase-out plan 2020. The report, Phase-Out 2020: Monitoring Europe’s fossil fuel subsidies (PH20202) gathered the information from 11 European countries between 2014 – 2016.
    Read More
  • Success of London’s congestion charge scheme
    February 15, 2013
    Said to be the biggest congestion charge scheme to launch in any city, the London scheme got off to a smooth start ten years ago on 17 February 2003, much to the surprise of London's then mayor Ken Livingstone, who ten years later says “it turned out better than I expected.” None of the anticipated pre-7am congestion as drivers attempted to avoid the charge happened, and by the end of the first day 57,000 drivers had paid it. The main problem seemed to be that buses were all running ahead of time and had t
    Read More
  • Don’t drive drunk – or use a hands-free phone
    August 29, 2019
    Despite law changes, drivers’ bad habits have been creeping back in. TRL’s Dr Shaun Helman tells Adam Hill why using a phone at the wheel is just as distracting as driving after a few drinks esearch from as far back as 2002 (see box) suggests that driving while making a phone call – either hands-free or holding a handset to your ear – creates the same amount of distraction as being drunk behind the wheel. While it is notoriously hard to predict how alcohol will affect an individual (due to the speed of
    Read More
  • Foundation funds research for informed campaigning
    April 29, 2015
    ITS International talks to Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the transport research and lobbying organisation, the RAC Foundation. It is through the eyes of an economist that Professor Stephen Glaister, emeritus professor of transport and infrastructure at Imperial College London and director of the RAC Foundation, views current and future transport problems. Having spent 30 years at the London School of Economics and another 10 at Imperial, the move to the RAC Foundation was a radical departure from
    Read More

Highlighted Content