Feel like you spend days of your life in traffic every week? Well, you might just be right because Brits spend almost two years of their working lives stuck in traffic while commuting, with those in London and Manchester the worst affected, according to new research.
The average motorist loses a whopping 613 days to congestion over a lifetime – a total of over 20 months behind the wheel. Office furniture specialist, Furniture At Work, has revealed the top 10 UK cities affected, looking at the daily traffic averages, and the average years a Brit will work – 48 years.
Londoners spend the most time in traffic, at 776 days over their lifetime, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Mancunians followed with 676 days stuck on the roads with brake lights shining in their faces.
With seemingly endless roadworks and some of the busiest motorways in our region, it feels fairly obvious that drivers in Manchester would spend so long in traffic, but in the same breath, Manchester is in fact one of the best cities to drive in… so what do we do? Well, we’re choosing to rely a bit more on public transport, given the effort being put into the Bee Network and making cycle lanes, walking routes and trains, trams and buses better.
But for those who truly have to drive…
Top 10 UK cities spent in traffic (days in a working lifetime):
- London (776)
- Manchester (676)
- Belfast (651)
- Cambridge (636)
- Newcastle upon Tyne (606)
- Birmingham (577)
- Liverpool (575)
- Oxford (566)
- Glasgow (554)
- Leeds (513)
A spokesperson for Furniture At Work commented: “As cities become more crowded, commuters can look at ways to cut down on time spent in gridlock – whether that’s using public transport or adjusting travel times to avoid peak hours.
“By exploring other options, workers can reclaim valuable time and reduce the stress associated with long travel delays.”
Of course, it’s not always so easy, but it feels as though Manchester is going through a bit of renaissance of late, transforming its roads, pedestrianised areas and public transport, so hopefully when we get to retirement age, we can say we spent much less than two years in traffic…