Congestion costing businesses in Birmingham and Wolverhampton £144m a year

The annual cost of traffic congestion to businesses in Birmingham and Wolverhampton is more than £144m – making it the third most costly in the country, according to a new study.

The biggest financial hit was felt in London, where £264m is lost to traffic each year, followed by Manchester (£169,256,880).

Latest figures revealed as part of the TomTom Traffic Index has found traffic in the area around Birmingham and Wolverhampton increases the time each commercial vehicle spends on the road by an average of 112 hours a year, which equates to 14 full working days.

This is part of a wider nationwide problem, with the cost to businesses in the UK’s 25 most congested cities and towns standing at £915,239,520.

The research, conducted by TomTom Telematics – the business unit of TomTom dedicated to fleet management, vehicle telematics and connected car services – has concluded that the full cost to businesses in Birmingham and Wolverhampton is approximately £144,184,320.

While the figure is shocking, factoring in all the indices, the area fares better than many might think.

In a table ranking the most congested towns and cities in the UK, Birmingham and Wolverhampton are listed 17th – an improvement of three places on last year.

Topping the list is Belfast, followed by Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Brighton and Hove, Bournemouth, Sheffield, Hull Bristol and Newcastle & Sunderland.

Completing the list of places worse than Birmingham and Wolverhampton are: Leicester, Liverpool, Swansea, Glasgow, Cardiff and Nottingham.

Beverley Wise, Director UK & Ireland for TomTom 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.”

Nevertheless, she said businesses could mitigate congestion levels by being smarter and developing 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,” she added.

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