Driving to the office? Here are the worst traffic delay hotspots in the UK and Ireland

Drivers looking to reduce fuel consumption in the coming months may want to consider working from home more often, especially in places like Dublin, Edinburgh, London and Hull.

Traffic is unavoidable on the drive to work, but some UK areas are worse than others regarding major delays and holdups. In fact, 27 of the most traffic-congested cities in Europe are in the UK, with London traffic worse than other capitals like Rome, Berlin and Zurich.

According to the Traffic Index Ranking, which looks at global congestion, levels between 25%-50% are considered some of the highest in the world.

With 68% of all trips to the office by car, it might be wise to consider alternative ways of commuting or increasing your WFH days if you live in the following cities:

London’s bad reputation for traffic holds up

After Dublin and Edinburgh, London is the third most congested place in the UK and Ireland.

Of the most congested local councils nationwide, 27 are London boroughs, with Kensington and Chelsea’s roads causing more than two-hour delays for commuters per month. The councils with the most delayed roads in the UK are:

Source: Data taken from government data on average delay on the Strategic Road Network and average delay on local ‘A’ roads.  

Southampton, the 24^th most delayed area, is the area most severely affected by traffic interruptions outside of London. The five councils with the most extensive commuter pauses outside of London are:

Source: Data taken from government data on average delay on the Strategic Road Network and average delay on local ‘A’ roads.  

Most delayed A-roads in the country

Some roads stand out as potential nightmares for commuters, the five worst being:

Source: Data taken from government data on average delay on the Strategic Road Network and average delay on local ‘A’ roads.  

Beating the commute: how to support your teams

For 24% of the workforce currently enjoying hybrid work, the return to the office doesn’t necessarily mean a return to the commute, with most people logging in from home for up to four days a week.

However, concerns about commuting and fuel prices are more pressing for the rest of the workforce. Here’s how you can support your team in the coming months.

1. Embrace hybrid work: Empower teams to work from home some of the time to help alleviate the costs of travelling to and from the office daily.
2. Provide work-from-home support: Offer financial support to employees to help with work-from-home costs, like energy or heating.
3. Provide financial wellbeing support: Help your teams make informed choices by providing financial education at work.
4. Be more flexible: Give those who drive into the office some flexibility about when they arrive and leave to avoid heavy traffic and congestion in their area.
5. Include flexible offices in your portfolio: Invite your teams to work in flexible office space closer to home, anywhere in the world.

Method

Table 1: TomTom Traffic Congestion Ranking

Tables 2-4: We collected government data on average delay versus free flow on every A-road and Strategic Road Network in the UK, arranging this data into councils and regions and then calculating averages for each council and region. To calculate monthly delays we assumed two commutes per day, travelling on at least five roads within each council per commute, twenty times a month.