- This year, the average Brit spent just 37 hours in traffic, down from 115 hours in 2019 – a decrease of 68%.
- Drivers in London (69 hours), Lincoln (47 hours) and Bristol (37 hours) lost the most time to traffic congestion, despite seeing reductions of 53%, 42% and 64% vs. 2019
- Belfast (31 hours) saw the largest change in congestion with delays falling by 73%
- Brexit impact: decrease in heavy goods vehicles (-42%) and increase in travel speeds (+9%) in January 2021 indicates a reduction in port activity year-on-year.
- Global view: Bogota (133 hours), Bucharest (134 hours), New York (100 hours), Moscow (100 hours) and Philadelphia (94 hours) comprise the Top 5 most congested cities in the world
LONDON, U.K., – March 9, 2020 – One year since the first COVID-19 lockdowns were introduced, INRIX Inc., a world leader in transportation analytics and connected car services, has published the 2020 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard, revealing the full impact of the pandemic on UK roads over a tumultuous 12 months.
The coronavirus crisis has reshaped our everyday lives. Most employers were forced to introduce “work from home” policies, while governments around the world imposed, lifted and re-imposed lockdowns in an attempt to limit the virus’ spread. Unsurprisingly, these policies resulted in large decreases in travel across all modes, the likes of which are unprecedented throughout the entire period vehicular, rail and air travel data has been collected.
To quantify the COVID-19 effect, the 2020 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard identifies and ranks congestion and mobility trends throughout the pandemic across more than 1000 cities, across 50 countries – including the UK.
On average, British drivers lost just 37 hours this year in traffic, down from 115 hours in 2019 – a decrease of 68%. In a pre-COVID financial environment, this kind of time reduction would equate to an economic saving of £613 per person. Nationally, this adds up to more than £3.4 billion in time savings compared to 2019.
Drivers in London (69 hours), Lincoln (47 hours) and Bristol (37 hours) lost the most time to traffic congestion, despite seeing large reductions compared with 2019 (53%, 42% and 64% respectively). Belfast (31 hours) saw the largest change in congestion, where delays fell 73% year on year.
Table 1: 10 Most Congested Urban Areas in the U.K.
| 2020 Impact Rank (2019) | Urban Area | 2020 Hours Lost | YoY Hours Lost Change | 2020 Cost Per Driver | YoY Per Driver Savings | 2020 City Cost | YoY City Savings | YoY Collisions | YoY Avg. DVMT |
| 1 (1) | London | 69 | -53% | £549 | £613 | £2.3B | £2.6B | -35% | -29% |
| 2 (11) | Lincoln | 47 | -42% | £375 | £265 | £17M | £12M | -21%* | -27%* |
| 3 (3) | Bristol | 37 | -64% | £295 | £508 | £76M | £131M | -34% | -27%* |
| 4 (6) | Cardiff | 34 | -61% | £267 | £412 | £43M | £66M | -49% | -30% |
| 5 (4) | Edinburgh | 30 | -69% | £241 | £524 | £56M | £121M | -47% | -26% |
| 6 (25) | Guildford | 34 | -42% | £267 | £186 | £19M | £13M | -21%* | -27%* |
| 7 (2) | Belfast | 31 | -73% | £241 | £632 | £32M | £85M | -46% | -25% |
| 8 (8) | Southampton | 31 | -61% | £245 | £372 | £29M | £45M | -21%* | -27%* |
| 9 (10) | Hull | 31 | -59% | £242 | £343 | £37M | £53M | -21%* | -27%* |
| 10 (18) | Durham | 34 | -45% | £269 | £214 | £6M | £5M | -21%* | -27%* |
RAC traffic spokesman Rod Dennis said: “These figures really hammer home the impact the pandemic has had on traffic volumes and congestion levels – almost overnight, roads that seemed perpetually grid-locked became deserted as lockdowns were enforced and millions started working from home.
“But despite the reduced congestion in many areas, the private car has continued to play a huge role in people’s lives during this crisis, whether that’s been for essential trips to the supermarkets or visits to see friends and family when the restrictions have allowed. RAC Report on Motoring research shows that more than half of drivers believe having access to a car is more important than it was before the pandemic, and reluctance to use public transport into the future is at an 18-year high.
“Time spent in traffic is frustrating, costly and leads to localised air pollution. The million-pound questions now are when and will congestion return, and to what extent. The return of schools in many parts of the country this week will have an effect, but arguably it is the extent to which regular weekday commuting returns which is likely have to a greater impact on traffic levels. If a degree of homeworking becomes the norm, there’s a chance things won’t return to how they were pre-Covid.”
The Brexit impact
Outside of COVID-19, the initiation of a post-Brexit trading relationship with the EU was also expected to impact traffic on UK roads. These concerns seemed well-founded in the lead-up to the Brexit withdrawal day on 1st January 2021, with roads around the Port of Dover seeing speed reductions of -23% (A20) and -71% (A2) throughout December.
However, since this date, the volume of both heavy goods vehicles (-42%) and increase in travel speeds (+9%) indicates a reduction in port activity year-on-year.
Meanwhile, roads around junction 10a of the M20 have actually seen a -5% decrease in freight traffic since the opening of a new Brexit lorry park in Ashford on 5th January 2021. Speed data reveals the lorry parks have had a minimal impact on congestion on surrounding local roads.
It is important to note that with COVID-19 restrictions still in place, many businesses that would otherwise be engaged in daily import and export, such as those in the hospitality sector, are currently inactive. As a result, the real impact of Brexit on congestion around the UK’s ports remains to be seen.
City-centre trips plummet
Pre-COVID-19, much of the UK’s traffic congestion centred around commutes to, from and within city centres. As a result, the closure of offices, restaurants, entertainment, fitness centres and other brick-and-mortar storefronts, along with limits on gatherings, had an outsized effect in the densest parts of each region.
Cities in the UK reacted strongly to lockdown measures. During the first UK lockdown, travel to city centres dropped 75% in April. The lifting of that lockdown on June 1st led to strong rebounds in city centre activity and a large increase in trips from April’s low. However, trips to city centres had dropped again by November, in line with the UK’s second lockdown, and these held through December 2nd. By February, the UK entered its third lockdown – coinciding with new COVID-19 variants being discovered. The latest lockdown has caused a 52% retraction in trips to city centres among major cities analyzed.
Leeds saw the largest year-on-year (Feb 20-21) drop (-66%) in trips to city centres, followed by Birmingham (-65%), Sheffield (-62%), Manchester (-62%), and London (-30%).
“Although travel to city centres has been the most affected by government restrictions and the spread of the virus, the reduction in congestion has resulted in quicker commutes for essential workers, more reliable deliveries and streamlined freight movement, all of which are vital to the economy,” said Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at INRIX. “We expect city trips will continue to lag suburban and rural travel through 2021.”
The Most Congested Corridors in the UK.
Throughout the country, delays on the busiest corridors decreased versus 2019. The five busiest corridors were all in London, with High Street Colliers Wood having the most delays in 2020 (24 hours), followed by the Marylebone Flyover (23 hours), and Harleyford Road / Kennington Oval (20 hours). Outside of London, the busiest corridors were Edinburgh’s Biggar Road, with 15 hours of delays, followed by Leeds’s Huddersfield Road (14 hours), and Birmingham’s Pershore Road (14 hours)
Table 2: Most Congested U.K. Roads in 2020 (London/Rest of UK)
| Rank | Urban Area | Road Name | From | To | Avg. Peak Delay (mins) | 2020 Hours Lost |
| London | ||||||
| 1 | London | High Street Colliers Wood | Christchurch Road | Cavendish Road | 6 | 24 |
| 2 | London | Marylebone Flyover | A501 | A501 / Nelson Terrace | 6 | 23 |
| 3 | London | Harleyford Road / Kennington Oval | Kennington Park Road | South Lambeth Road | 5 | 20 |
| 4 | London | West Cross Route | Westway Roundabout | Murno Terrace | 5 | 19 |
| 5 | London | Camberwell New Road | Brixton Road | Queen’s Road | 4 | 17 |
| Rest of UK | ||||||
| 1 | Edinburgh | Biggar Road | A720 Lothianburn Junction / City of Edinburgh Bypass | Brougham Street | 4 | 15 |
| 2 | Leeds | Huddersfield Road | A62 / Sunny Bank Road / Child Lane | Liversedge Hall Lane | 3 | 14 |
| 3 | Birmingham | Pershore Road | Pershore Road South / Watford Road | Belgrave Middleway | 3 | 14 |
| 4 | Manchester | Cross Street | Ashfield Road / Atkinson Road | Woodlands Road | 3 | 12 |
| 5 | Glasgow | M8 | M80 Junction | M77 Junction | 3 | 11 |
How U.K. Cities Compare to Top Cities Worldwide
At the global level, Bogota topped the list of the cities most impacted by traffic congestion with drivers losing 133 hours a year to congestion (-31% from 2019) followed by Bucharest, New York, Moscow and Philadelphia. In Europe, Rome saw the greatest reductions in delay compared to 2020, dropping 60%, followed by Brussels (-58%), Dublin (-57%), Athens (-54%) and London (-53%).
Table 3: 10 Most Congested Cities in the World in 2020
| 2020 Congestion Rank (2019) | Urban Area | 2020 Hours Lost | YoY Hours Lost Change | YoY DVMT Change |
| 1 (1) | Bogota, Columbia | 133 | -31% | -30% |
| 2 (**) | Bucharest, Romania | 134 | – | – |
| 3 (14) | New York City, NY | 100 | -28% | -28% |
| 4 (17) | Moscow, Russia | 100 | -22% | -12%* |
| 5 (12) | Philadelphia, PA | 94 | -34% | -25% |
| 6 (7) | Paris, France | 88 | -47% | -19% |
| 7 (10) | Chicago, IL | 86 | -40% | -22% |
| 8 (18) | Quito, Ecuador | 87 | -40% | -11% |
| 9 (**) | Zagreb, Croatia | 93 | – | – |
| 10 (38) | Cali, Columbia | 81 | -14% | -6% |
*No local figures available, national substituted; **New to Scorecard Ranking
Access to reliable data is the first step in tackling congestion. Applying big data to create intelligent transportation systems is key to solving urban mobility problems. INRIX data and analytics on mobility, traffic and traffic signals, parking and population movement help city planners and engineers make data-based decisions to prioritize spending to maximize benefits and reduce costs now and into the future.
The key findings of the INRIX 2020 Global Traffic Scorecard provide a quantifiable benchmark for governments and cities across the world to measure progress to improve urban mobility and track the impact of spending on smart city initiatives.
Please visit www.inrix.com/scorecard for:
- Full 2020 Global Traffic Scorecard report, including rankings for the U.K., US., and Germany
- Interactive webpage with data and information for more than 1000cities and 50 countries
- Complete methodology
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Notes to Editors:
Data Sources
INRIX fuses anonymous data from diverse datasets – such as phones, cars, trucks and cities – that leads to robust and accurate insights. The data used in the 2020 Global Traffic Scorecard is the congested or uncongested status of every segment of road for every minute of the day, as used by millions of drivers around the world that rely on INRIX-based traffic services.
Research Methodology
The 2020 Scorecard builds upon the methodology adopted two years ago by identifying multiple commute areas within cities, capturing each city’s own unique mobility profile. Furthermore, the 2020 Scorecard analyzes travel times, miles-traveled, trip characteristics and the impact of incidents on congestion within a city. From this multifaceted approach, a holistic understanding is achievable in an increasingly complex landscape.
The INRIX 2020 Global Traffic Scorecard calculates time lost in congestion by employing traffic data across multiple commute sub areas within a city. Commute sub areas are identified based upon the concentration of trips concluding within a defined area. An economic analysis was performed to estimate the total cost to the average driver in a city, and a total cost to the city population. Worst corridors are limited to those that have the highest traffic volume and are ranked by the average hours of delay per driver in 2020. Additional metrics are available online and in the full report.
About INRIX
INRIX is the global leader in connected car services and mobility analytics. We use data and insights to help our customers make mobility smarter, safer, and more efficient. With the ability to offer transportation services on every road in the world, we are the preferred provider of mobility intelligence for leading automakers, transport agencies and businesses. Learn more at INRIX.com.
