Leeds named sixth most congested location outside London
Leeds has been named the sixth most congested location outside of London.
According to a new league table released by the National Infrastructure Commission, Manchester tops the list – with Liverpool and Birmingham in second and third.
Chairman Sir John Armitt said that the fact cities hold the first 25 places of the whole league table demonstrates the clear need for major new investment in the UK’s urban transport networks.
The commission has published the National Infrastructure Assessment, which includes recommendations that greater powers be devolved to metro mayors and local leaders to improve urban transport, backed by £43bn funding to 2040 on top of current spending plans.
Sir John has written to leaders in over 50 cities across England – including these most congested cities – offering support from the Commission as they develop their own integrated plans to improve local transport, unlock employment opportunities and deliver new homes.
Sir John Armitt said: “From Manchester to Bournemouth our cities are facing gridlock – creating misery for people trying to get from A to B. Trying to tackle this from London won’t work. Our metro mayors and city leaders need to be in the driving seat to develop local solutions.”
Commissioner Professor Sadie Morgan said: “Today’s league table demonstrates the challenge our city leaders face in tackling congestion to keep traffic moving on their streets.
“We must now give them the powers and funding they need to support long-term strategies to tackle this issue, which would also be designed to boost job opportunities and deliver new homes.”
The National Infrastructure Commission is an independent organisation established to provide advice to Government on meeting the country’s infrastructure needs long into the future.
In developing the league table of the most congested areas of England outside London, the Commission compared the ease with which people could drive from one part of an area to another at peak and off-peak times.
Those areas where the experience of travellers at different times varied considerably were ranked the most congested, while those where the experience was broadly similar ranked the least congested. Those in the top 25 places on the league table are all cities.
Based on this, the top 10 most congested parts of England outside London are:
- Manchester
- Liverpool
- Birmingham
- Portsmouth and Southampton
- Nottingham
- Leeds
- Bristol
- Brighton
- Leicester
- Bournemouth
This is a new approach to measuring traffic congestion – where conventionally, congestion is measured according to average speeds, this analysis for the National Infrastructure Commission looks to calculate the real-life experience of drivers, and how this will vary over a range of journeys.
Unlike speed, this new measure can enable comparisons between different areas, helping to identify those places likely to be suffering congestion the most at those crucial peak times.
