Trafficmaster, owner of the myriad blue cameras that litter Britain's highways to make notes about your journey, has been crunching statistics for a new report claiming a record drop in congestion.
Are sights like these getting rarer?
The report, published in conjunction with the AA, claims a dramatic 31 per cent drop in congestion across all major motorways and trunk roads over the last two years. The reason? You'll be surprised to learn it's not the result of the government's intelligently structured investment in road transport, and is purely credited to the, er, credit crunch.
"Congestion levels have become inextricably linked to major financial events and the economic climate, such as rising fuel prices and the collapse of Northern Rock," the report says.
"Gloomily, with the increase in unemployment and the report’s findings that nearly a quarter of commuters not currently working lost their jobs over the last 12 months, rush hour is now also becoming redundant, influencing the overall congestion figures."
Apparently, the credit crunch has also delivered another phenomenom, with new spikes of congestion on Fridays, school and Bank Holidays.
"With the cost of holidays in the UK cheaper than abroad, we have seen up to a 50 per cent increase in congestion at these times as additional leisure traffic hits the roads. What’s more weekend breaks seem to be more popular as people are cutting back on the length of time they spend away – Friday is the only day of the week that is bucking the trend of a decrease in congestion levels," the authors say.
A quick office poll here at PH towers suggests the claimed fall in congestion is not making an impact on our journey times that involve the M25. But statistics never lie...
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