Keep out of Manchester to avoid worst jams, says report
Posted by Mark Bond on Thursday, 21 Jun 2012, 16:54 in UK Motoring
Motorists who do not like the idea of sitting in long queues of traffic should keep well away from the centre of Manchester. That's according to a report from traffic information firm NRIX Europe, which said while London has the longest delays in the country, Manchester is home to the worst jams. Researchers measured not only the length of delays, but also the intensity and the difference between the free-flow of traffic under normal conditions. Between 9am and 10am on Tuesday mornings is the worst time to be caught driving in the middle of Manchester. Motorists in London want to make sure that they are off the roads between 4pm and 5pm as researchers found that it took 33 per cent longer to complete a journey. On average, the data showed motorists in the UK waste up to 32 hours a year sitting in traffic hold-ups. However, British drivers are better off than motorists in some other European countries when it comes to traffic jams. The average driver in Belgium spends 55 hours a year sitting behind the wheel going nowhere. Stuart Marks, INRIX Europe senior vice-president said the data was an indication of the state of the economy in a country. "So goes traffic, so goes the economy", he said. "Traffic congestion is an excellent economic indicator telling us whether people are going to work, businesses are shipping products and consumers are spending money."
