Research reveals the UK cities with the highest congestion rates and longest hours lost to traffic jams per year.
New research carried out by GoShorty studied the TomTom Congestion Index and identified the countries with the highest amount of low emissions zone schemes implemented to determine which of the world’s and the UK cities have the busiest roads.
The full research can be found here: https://goshorty.co.uk/blog/worlds-busiest-roads/
UK cities with the highest levels of congestion:

Top slow downs

Rank

City

Congestion Level

Annual Hours Lost

1

Edinburgh

35%

80

2

London

33%

75

3

Hull

32%

73

3

Brighton & Hove

32%

73

5

Bournemouth

28%

64

6

Belfast

27%

62

7

Bristol

26%

59

8

Leicester

25%

57

8

Liverpool

25%

57

10

Manchester

24%
55
Edinburgh is the seventh-most populous city in the United Kingdom and has the busiest roads. Throughout 2021, the city’s congestion level was 35%, which is a 3% increase on 2020, yet a 6% decrease on 2019. With the current rate continuing to increase, Edinburgh may retain the busiest roads in the UK.
Being the largest city in the United Kingdom, with a population of around 9 million, London has the second-highest level of congestion in the UK. In 2021, the English capital had a congestion level of 33%, which is a growth of 2% from the year before. In the case of London, public transport can often be a slightly faster way to travel and potentially cheaper as London has congestion charges and ultra-low emission zones (ULEZ).
Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire and the coastal town of Brighton & Hove tie for the third place in this anti-rating.

Other highs and lows

  • Italy  is the country with the highest number of low emission zone schemes in the world, with a whopping 253 zones having implemented such schemes.

  • Istanbul is officially the most congested city in the world, with a congestion level of 62%. Residents of the Turkish capital spend around 142 hours in traffic jams – the equivalent of nearly 6 whole days.

 

You can read the full international report here.