London is famous for its landmarks – and bad traffic (Picture: Tim Graham/Getty Images Europe)
Living in London without having to deal with the traffic is almost impossible, but some boroughs fare worse than others for it.
Would the capital even be the same without its gridlocked roads and stressed-out commuters?
Whether you walk, cycle or use the Tube, it is always there – the hum and fumes of non-stop traffic in London.
But some boroughs fare better than others when it comes to congestion from car journeys clogging up the roads.
Here is a map showing the worst congestion in London boroughs according to the latest government figures.
The most congested London boroughs
A map shows how many miles each London borough racked up last year (Picture: Metro.co.uk/DfT)
Hillingdon has been crowned the most congested area in Greater London – yet again.
A whopping 1.44 billion vehicle miles were travelled on the roads in the west London borough – home to Heathrow Airport and a gateway to the M40.
Hillingdon also claimed the top stop for most traffic in 2019 and 2022, Department for Transport data shows.
The runner-up is Havering bordering Essex where drivers racked up 1.12 billion miles in 2023.
The M25 goes through the borough which is located only some miles from the busy Dartford Crossing.
How London boroughs compare for congestion
Here are the five boroughs with the most traffic in the capital according to Department for Transport figures.
Hillingdon – 1.44 billion vehicle miles
Havering – 1.12 billion vehicle miles
Enfield – 1.11 billion vehicle miles
Barnet – 1.04 billion vehicle miles
Hounslow – 1.02 billion vehicle miles
The top five areas with the least congestion are all in central London.
City of London – 70 million vehicle miles
Islington – 225.5 million vehicle miles
Hackney – 271.9 million vehicle miles
Camden – 273.8 million vehicle miles
Hammersmith and Fulham – 299.6 million vehicle miles
Traffic on the Great West Road in west London (Picture: Oliver Quartly/Story Picture Agency/REX/Shutterstock)
Descartes, a logistics expert in the UK, said it was ‘no surprise’ to see high traffic volumes in boroughs like Hillingdon as London remains ‘the most congested city globally.’
The latest figures reveal that all but two London boroughs (Enfield and Sutton) have seen a decrease in traffic compared to pre-coronavirus levels in 2019, Descartes said.
Its analysis suggests that the share of vans as a percentage of traffic has increased to 18% of all traffic – up from just 8.8% in 2019.
It also found that the busiest boroughs match up with the areas where motorways meet around the M1, M4, M3 and M20 where the highest volumes are driven.
ULEZ and London air quality
ULEZ has reportedly had a positive impact on London air quality (Picture: Jack Taylor/Getty Images Europe)
London Mayor Sadiq Khan made the controversial decision to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to all of Greater London in August last year to tackle pollution.
Hillingdon was one of five Conservative-led councils trying to stop the ULEZ expansion by launching a legal challenge in the High Court.
But their bid was rejected, with the court finding that Mr Khan had the right to expand the scheme to include almost a million more drivers in London.
Now almost a year on, the City Hall has said the ULEZ expansion has had a ‘positive impact’ on air pollution in London.
The emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from cars is reportedly 13% lower than if ULEZ had not been expanded, while the figure is 7% for vans, a City Hall study found.
This is equivalent to removing 200,000 cars from the road for one year, it said.
Mr Khan said the the report shows that ‘the Ulez is working even better than expected.’
‘The expansion to outer London is already having a significant effect – driving down levels of pollution, taking old polluting cars off our roads and bringing cleaner air to millions more Londoners,’ he added.
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