Cycle lanes blamed as London named world's most congested city

7 December 2021, 08:39 | Updated: 7 December 2021, 08:50

Cycle lanes built during the coronavirus pandemic contributed to London becoming the world's most congested city, new analysis shows.

Drivers in the capital will lose an average of 148 hours stuck in jams across the whole of 2021, traffic information supplier Inrix said.

That is just 1% down on pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, a much smaller decline than many other major cities.

A cycling charity claimed it was "incredibly simplistic" to blame new cycle lanes for congestion.

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Paris was in second place in the global ranking (140 hours lost in 2021), followed by Brussels (134 hours lost), Moscow (108 hours lost) and New York (102 hours lost).

London was ranked only the 16th most congested city last year.

New cycle lanes were installed in the capital following the coronavirus outbreak to encourage active travel.

Several councils reversed the schemes following vocal opposition by motorists who claimed they caused delays, but some of the lanes remain in place.

Inrix operations director Peter Lees said the installation of cycle lanes had a "negative impact on congestion".

He said: "Use of roads is all about supply and demand.

"If the demand goes up but the road space is being shared with other forms of transport, there's less tarmac effectively for the cars to be on, which then has an impact on the speeds on the road and therefore congestion."

But Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at charity Cycling UK, disputed the claims.

He said: "It's incredibly simplistic for Inrix to suggest that the use of road is all about supply and demand, without considering how efficiently that road space is used.

"On Blackfriars Bridge, cycle lanes take up 20% of the road space but move 70% of the people across it at peak times, with cycle lanes across London moving more people more efficiently in less space.

"Inrix are focussed on the tarmac available for cars, when the question should be how we use and allocate that space better, changing travel behaviours and reducing congestion in the process."

Mr Lees said the main reason for London's surge in the traffic jam ranking was its relatively strong economic recovery from the pandemic compared with other global cities.

Across the UK as a whole, drivers will waste an average of 73 hours in traffic this year.

That is up 36 hours from 2020, but down 42 hours compared with pre-Covid 2019.

Inrix estimated that the economic hit from drivers being stuck in traffic this year will cost an average of £595 per person, and the UK £8 billion.

Trips to larger city centres still lag behind normal levels, but smaller cities are experiencing "minimal decreases in travel" which is maintaining congestion levels, according to the company.

This has led to Cambridge becoming the UK's second most congested city, followed by Bristol, Exeter and Cheltenham.