UK Commuters Spend 43% of Their Journeys at a Standstill

New research conducted by Citroen shows that UK rush-hour drivers are spending almost half their time at a standstill, stuck in traffic. The 43 percent figure represents a 13.7 percent increase over the result from five years ago. Over a one hour journey at peak times, the average commuter will spend around 25 minutes sat in stationary traffic. The study was carried out to promote the New Citroen C4’s e-HDi ‘Stop & Start’ diesel engine technology.

The normal journeys during morning and evening rush hour commute times (8-9 am and 5-6 pm) were analyzed in five major British cities: London, Manchester, Norwich, Birmingham and Cardiff. Citroen has gone through similar undertaking in the past, for the first time in 2006, then in 2008.

The Capital’s motorists were stationary for 19 minutes 20 seconds on average in 2006, but this had risen to a staggering 36 minutes 28 seconds at the start of 2011. Manchester also jumped from 21 minutes to 28 minutes 39 seconds. By contrast, Cardiff saw an average 10 minute reduction in the time spent stationary.

Not only is the lost time a problem, but so is the cost of fuel, as the average cost of diesel has increased 46 percent in the UK over the past 5 years.

“Despite a general downward trend in traffic during the economic slowdown, many urban commuters are experiencing similar, if not worse stop-start journeys to work as they were five years ago,” said Marc Raven, Citroen’s Communications Director.

“Our continued research shows the overall congestion in UK cities is not getting any better for traffic weary drivers. The spiraling cost of fuel is a raw issue and an idling engine in stationary gridlock only adds to the bill,” he added.