Traffic jams cost the UK economy a total of £9bn, says INRIX

There were over 1.35m traffic jams in the past year on the UK’s major roads, costing drivers an estimated £9bn. The causes of the five worst queues ranged from fuel spills to broken down lorries.

The research from INRIX reveals that November 2016 was the worst month in terms of volume, with over 169,000 traffic jams on the UK’s major roads, 50% worse than average. However, traffic jams across the month of April proved the most severe, with the research revealing they were 24% worse than average. The year’s worst traffic jam occurred on 4th August 2017 on the M5 Northbound by Junction 10. Traffic tailed back 35 miles at the peak, and the jam lasted 15 hours, resulting in an estimated cost of £2.4 million to road users.

The cost of traffic jams is composed of the value of wasted time, fuel and unnecessary carbon emissions. Estimates were made based on assumptions about trip purpose and the fuel consumption of the average vehicle, with national averages used as a basis for these values. 

Dr Graham Cookson, chief economist at INRIX said: “While queuing is considered a national past-time for many Britons, nothing is more frustrating than sitting in traffic and INRIX Roadway Analytics shows it’s a costly activity. Jams can be caused by all kinds of incidents but the INRIX Incident Platform shows that fuel spillages, emergency repairs and broken down lorries contributed to the biggest pile-ups this year. As we head into November, the worst month for traffic jams last year, we advise motorists use the latest real-time traffic technology to keep up to date with the situation on the roads.” 

INRIX monthly summary of UK traffic jams 

The ‘average impact’ is calculated by multiplying the average duration of a traffic jam with its average length.

	All FRC 1 and 2 Roads
Month	No. of Traffic Jams	Impact of Traffic Jams	Average Impact
September 16	135,135	12,820,180	95
October 16	136,255	12,664,459	93
November 16	169,931	16,290,137	96
December 16	115,280	11,324,131	98
January 17	101,272	8,346,117	82
February 17	89,925	10,071,818	112
March 17	96,167	10,834,639	113
April 17	71,519	9,207,443	129
May 17	115,546	11,418,822	99
June 17	118,633	12,118,544	102
July 17	104,851	11,163,833	106
August 17	102,895	12,385,246	120
Year to Date	1,357,430	138,645,368	104

Worst traffic jams in UK in past 12 months (excluding roadworks)

The cost is composed of the value of wasted time, fuel and unnecessary carbon emissions as a result of the delay imposed on drivers by these traffic jams. The costs are estimated by making assumptions about the trip purpose and the average vehicle.

  

INRIX Ranking	Date	Road & Direction	Junction	Duration (Hours)	Max Length (Miles)	Economic Cost	Original Cause
1	04/08/17	M5 - N	J10	15	35.9	£2,360,590	Accident / Fuel Spill
2	07/04/17	M6 - N	J21	8	31.0	£1,176,400	Emergency Repair
3	25/08/17	M6 - N	J17-23	8	26.4	£967,454	Broken down lorry
4	29/11/17	A406 - W	A109	15	14.3	£961,595	Accident
5	13/12/17	M6 - N	J32	10	20.4	£903,400	Fire / Emergency Repair