Bournemouth is 'one of world's most congested places'

Research from TomTom suggests the area rivals Edinburgh (44th place), London (55th), Hull (60th) and Brighton and Hove (64th).

Bournemouth ranked 99 in the world's top 100 most congested places.

The study released today also shows generally, road congestion during traditional peak travel times, was more than a third lighter than pre-pandemic levels.

Analysis of 25 UK towns and cities by location technology firm TomTom found that traffic jams in the morning and evening rush hours during 2021 eased by 35 per cent compared with 2019.

Read more: 

• Roadworks taking place across the BCP Council area this week
• 'Congestion is harmful to people's lives': Bus company responds after two-hour delays
• Bournemouth was UK's third most congested place in 2019

This was led by reductions in Reading, Southampton, Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent and Cardiff.

TomTom attributed the decline in congestion to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the growth in online shopping.

The company’s traffic expert Andy Marchant said that “2021 was the year in which the UK’s new working habits came to the fore: home offices become standard and flexible work hours allowed many commuters to step out of rush hours."

He added: “As a result, peak hours have decreased in all 25 UK cities included in the index.

“However, with the Government set to publish a plan on how the UK can ‘learn to live with Covid as a country’ by spring, traffic levels will likely increase as British citizens start returning to offices as part of their new working patterns.”

Mr Marchant warned that better traffic management can only improve the flow of vehicles by “up to 10%”.

Traditional congestion peaks can only be permanently stopped by more people changing how they travel, he explained.

“Cycling, public transport and other modes of transport must take a larger share in transportation,” Mr Marchant said.

“Such a redirection requires greater collaboration between UK city planners, policy makers, employers, and drivers – and it takes time.”

Last week, bus bosses in Dorset spoke of their frustration at the level of road works in the area and how long they took to complete.

Read more: Public transport bosses have say on BCP region roadworks

At that point, a BCP Council spokesperson said: “We have an excellent working relationship with the bus operators in the BCP area.

“Bus operators and private road users are inconvenienced by utility works and we will do everything in our power to reduce their impact on the road network.”

And in January we reported that people will be pushed out of car use in some areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in the future – according to a senior councillor.

Cllr Mike Greene says the authority would have to use the ‘carrot and stick’ approach if it is to avoid many of the roads in the area being constantly clogged up.

The portfolio holder for sustainability and transport said the council was likely to ensure that some residential developments, typically more high density, would have no provision for car use and those who chose to live in those developments would have to make that decision knowing there was nowhere to park a car.

He said that would be coupled with further parking restrictions to encourage people to opt for cycling, walking and public transport, instead of having their own car and also expecting a parking space to go with it.