Skip to main content

London tops global congestion ranking, says report

The Inrix Traffic Scorecard 2015, which measures progress in improving urban mobility, reveals strong economic growth and record population levels resulting in London becoming the first city to surpass 100 hours wasted per driver in gridlock. The report analysed traffic congestion in more than 100 cities worldwide. London topped the list, with drivers wasting an average of 101 hours, or more than four days, in gridlock in 2015. Across the UK, drivers spent 30 hours on average in delays last year, consist
March 15, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The 163 Inrix Traffic Scorecard 2015, which measures progress in improving urban mobility, reveals strong economic growth and record population levels resulting in London becoming the first city to surpass 100 hours wasted per driver in gridlock.

The report analysed traffic congestion in more than 100 cities worldwide. London topped the list, with drivers wasting an average of 101 hours, or more than four days, in gridlock in 2015. Across the UK, drivers spent 30 hours on average in delays last year, consistent with 2014, but the UK dropped to sixth in the European ranking as a result of Switzerland seeing a rise in traffic levels. Belgium remains Europe’s most gridlocked country, with drivers stuck in traffic for 44 hours on average.

Of the 13 European countries analysed, 70 per cent experienced a decrease in congestion in 2015. This can be attributed to a sluggish Europe-wide economy, with an average quarterly GDP growth rate of 0.3 per cent in the second half of last year, which remains below the pre-crisis peak of 2008. Belgium topped the list with drivers spending 44 hours in traffic congestion, followed by the Netherlands (39 hours) and Germany (38).

Although London topped the list of Europe’s most gridlocked cities, Stuttgart experienced the highest increase, reaching 73 average hours wasted in 2015, an increase of 14 per cent from 2014. Both Cologne (5.2 hours) and Antwerp (6.6 hours) experienced significant increases in delays.

Brussels, Europe’s most congested city in 2012 and 2013, experienced a significant drop in delays in 2015, achieving 70 hours wasted in traffic, a decline of more than four hours from 2014 and moving the city to fifth in the ranking.

At the global city level, London tops the list of gridlock-plagued cities, with 101 hours of delay, followed by Los Angeles (81 hours), Washington DC (75), San Francisco (75), Houston (74), New York (73), Stuttgart (73), Antwerp (71), Cologne (71) and Brussels (70).

Of the countries measured by the Inrix Traffic Scorecard, the US leads with the highest annual hours wasted in traffic – an average of nearly 50 hours in 2015 – outranking Belgium (44 hours), Netherlands (39), Germany (38), Luxembourg (33), Switzerland (30), UK (30) and France (28).

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Developments in travel information display systems
    August 1, 2012
    David Crawford looks at recent developments in travel information display systems. It is important to remember that we are investing in Real-Time Passenger Information [RTPI] to increase ridership," says Robert Burke, Managing Director of New Zealand transit tracking technology specialist Connexionz, which has been involved in at-stop and remote passenger information since 1995. "Superior information improves the perception of public transport reliability and gives the passenger more choices and greater con
  • Inrix and APCOA partner to provide comprehensive European parking data
    July 6, 2017
    Inrix has partnered with European parking operator APCOA Parking Group to exchange parking information in a deal which will provide Inrix with access to information from 1.4 million parking spaces at over 9,000 locations in 13 countries.
  • Progress on speeding ‘may be hampered by confusion on 20mph limits’
    July 5, 2017
    The percentages of vehicles exceeding the speed limit in free flow conditions on UK roads have declined slightly for most vehicle and road types between 2011 and 2016, according to statistics published by the Department for Transport.
  • Cost benefit: just $25 boosts pedestrian safety in Florida
    April 29, 2019
    A relatively straightforward change to the way that pedestrians cross the street in a Florida city has made a significant safety improvement. And what’s more, it was cheap, finds David Crawford Installing a lead pedestrian interval (LPI) system at 25 central business district signalised intersections in the Florida city of Lakeland has cut numbers of incidents involving pedestrians by some 60% - at a cost of US$25 for 30 minutes' work, according to traffic operations manager Angelo Rao.