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Slow, slow, slow – Britain’s worst areas to drive in to make progress!

A new survey shows up the slowest progress in areas around Britain…

The brand new study, conducted by Moneybarn, has analysed England’s biggest towns and cities based on their average speed, the number of roads requiring maintenance, average daily traffic flow and hours lost in congestion to reveal England’s slowest areas to drive in.
They tell us:
You can view the full research here:

Revealed: England’s slowest areas to drive in…

Rank

Town/City

Average speed (miles per hour)

Average delay (seconds per vehicle per mile)

No. of A roads and motorways requiring maintenance

No. of B and C roads requiring maintenance

Annual average daily traffic flow

Annual average hours lost in congestion

Overall slow traffic score /10

1

Bristol

16

78

9%

10%

1,306

91

8.51

2

Nottingham

14

94

10%

6%

944

71

8.28

3

Liverpool

16

84

7%

15%

1,258

50

7.88

4

London

15

114

8%

5%

559

156

7.70

5

Manchester

17

77

5%

6%

1,486

84

7.42

6

Leicester

18

67

7%

12%

876

62

7.13

7

Birmingham

18

73

5%

4%

3,216

73

6.84

8

Brighton and Hove

13

107

6%

4%

696

52

6.67

9

Reading

14

96

9%

6%

313

41

6.49

10

Derby

21

58

6%

14%

1,048

46

5.81
Bristol is the slowest English city for drivers overall, with a slow traffic score 8.51/10. The southwestern city scored poorly in every ranking category, which earned Bristol the number one spot. There is an average of 91 annual hours lost in traffic and 10% of Bristol’s ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads require maintenance. Currently, there are 9% of Bristol’s ‘A’ roads and motorways that require maintenance too, making Bristol a very difficult city for motorists!
Nottingham ranks as the second slowest city for drivers, with a slow traffic score of 8.28/10. The East Midlands city known for its Robin Hood mythology, has 10% of its ‘A’ roads and motorways requiring maintenance, which is the highest of any cities in the study! On top of this, the average speed of traffic in the city is just 14 miles per hour (mph), with only motorists in Brighton achieving a lower average speed.
Liverpool rounds off the top three as the third slowest city for drivers, with a slow traffic of 7.88/10. Liverpool has the worst ‘B’ and ‘C’ roads of any major city in the country, as an astonishing 15% of them should be considered for maintenance. Additionally, the average delay in Liverpool is over 83 seconds per vehicle per mile (spvpm) and there is a very high average daily traffic flow of over a whopping 1,250 vehicles.
Further findings:

  • Middlesbrough is the fastest area to drive in, with a slow traffic score of just 0.8/10. The working class town has the third shortest average delay time in the study, as well as the second lowest amount of hours lost in congestion.

  • Despite being a capital city, London only ranked as the fourth slowest city in the study, falling from first place since 2021.

  • Peru is the slowest country to drive in, with an average congestion level of a whopping 42% and 26 days of high traffic within Peruvian cities.

  • The United States is the fastest country to drive in, with an average of just six days per year of high traffic and a high top speed limit of 50 mph in urban areas.

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