Belfast has been ranked the 50th most congested city worldwide in the 2022 Global Traffic Scorecard compiled by INRIX Inc.
A world leader in mobility analytics and connected car services, the group found the average UK driver lost 80 hours due to traffic congestion - a 7-hour increase on 2021 and down 35 hours from 2019.
Our capital is also 23rd worst in Europe and fifth in the UK.
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London topped the list worldwide and as the UK’s most congested city, is followed by Bristol, Manchester and Birmingham.
In Belfast, INRIX estimates drivers lose 72 hours sitting in traffic costing each an average of £636 in lost time with a downtown speed of 16mph.
City-wide that number was £102million - and that’s with congestion levels still 9% lower than pre-Covid traffic.
The report says despite challenges posed by soaring energy costs, the war on Ukraine, economic fallout from weakened supply chains and inflationary pressures the “vehicle-miles travelled, or amount people driving, largely stayed the same or even increased in certain urban areas and countries” after pandemic measures were lifted.
As a result, they added: “Congestion has been generally increasing, as traffic patterns begin to look more like they did in 2019 than in 2021.”
Green Party leader and Belfast councillor, Malachi O’Hara, said: “It is no surprise Belfast continues to be one of the most congested cities in the UK and now, the world.
“This is indicative of the failure by successive executives to invest in public transport and support people to use their cars less. “Despite the declaration of a Climate Emergency by the Assembly in 2020, little progress has been made by the Executive parties. “Congestion means lost hours of productivity for business, it means commuters frustratingly stuck in soulless commutes everyday and it means that residents of Belfast experience toxic air.
“The Department for Environment, Agriculture and Rural Affairs suggests from it’s own evidence that 1 in 24 deaths in Belfast are attributable to toxic air despite almost 40% of households in Belfast not having access to a car or van.
“A primary cause of that is transport emissions, particularly from those commuting to work.
“Many cities used the opportunity during the first few waves of the pandemic to totally transform away from private car dependence.
“Our Executive absolutely missed this window of opportunity by instead installing less than three kilometres of unconnected pop-up cycle lanes and refusing to enforce any form of pedestrianisation in the city.
“To address congestion in the city and meet the challenge of the Climate Crisis, we must invest in better public transport, support working from home, decentralise the economy away from Belfast and take radical action to stop toxic air from killing our people.”
Anne Madden from sustainable transport charity, Sustrans, said: “Congestion costs money and people’s valuable time.
“For a small city like Belfast it is unacceptable that it appears year after year in the top most congested UK cities.
“According to the Inrix report congestion cost Belfast a whopping £102 million in 2022 – that is equivalent to the estimated cost of building the whole Belfast Cycling Network.
“The downtown speed for drivers due to traffic jams is just 16mph, no faster than cycling. But anyone who cycles or indeed walks in our city will know this anyway as they often pass slow or stationary cars.
“Every day walking and cycling in Belfast takes up to 77,000 cars off the road (source: Walking & Cycling Index 2021 Belfast). If more people travelled actively we could reduce traffic further but we need a proper network of protected cycle lanes.
“The Department for Infrastructure can do more to enable and encourage people to use alternatives to the car and free-up road space for those doing essential journeys such as delivery or emergency vehicles.
“We need both increased investment in public transport and to start building the Belfast Cycling Network today. Tackling congestion with a carrot and stick approach has to be central to a ‘Bolder Vision for Belfast’ which city councillors have embraced.”
The Department for Infrastructure has been contacted for comment.
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