Traffic levels have surged in English cities following the easing of lockdown restrictions. Data from telematics company TomTom shows that congestion delays rose by more than half in a week in some urban areas.
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At 8am this Monday journeys in Leicester were taking 56% longer compared to when roads are clear, as opposed to 20% longer the previous Monday morning. In Hull journeys took 72% more time in the peak hour compared to 36% extra the week before, and in Leeds this Monday’s figure was 51% compared to 23% last week.
Roads in London saw the congestion level rise from 32% last week to 42% this week, Liverpool saw an increase from 25 to 57% and Manchester saw an uptick in the congestion score from 27 to 37%.
“While we are slowly beginning to return back to normality with non essential retail opening, driving still remains the chosen choice of transport as we continue to navigate through the pandemic,” said the technology firm's head of traffic innovation and policy Stephanie Leonard.
A separate study released this morning by the Campaign for Better Transport indicates that cars will continue to be the preferred mode of transport for around half of journeys after Covid. Its survey reveals that private cars will be used for around half of shopping trips (50% versus 49% before the pandemic), leisure (54% vs 52%) and personal matters (53% vs 52%).
“Cars are the main contributor to carbon emissions and lethal air pollution, so returning to a car dominated transport network is simply not an option post Covid,” said the group's chief executive Paul Tuohy. “Unless the Government does more to promote public transport and encourage its use, we cannot hope to reduce harmful emissions or build back in a way that is fair and sustainable.”
It also found that slightly more people plan to use the car for the school run post Covid – up from 19% to 22% – and that less crowded services, cheaper tickets and better routes come top of the public’s wish list to encourage increased use of public transport post pandemic.
The survey also revealed that while two thirds of all those in employment were working entirely from their place of work before the pandemic, just half plan to do so after restrictions begin to ease. In addition, a fifth of UK adults said nothing would encourage them to increase their use of public transport, rising to 29% among those aged 55 and over.
(Photograph: Richard M Lee - Shutterstock)
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