Revealed: the London borough with the most traffic congestion

One thing Londoners know how to do is queue. Whether it’s standing in line for the bus or shuffling down the steps of Oxford Circus tube station, if you’re travelling across London you’re bound to spend a fair amount of time waiting around.

And that goes for travelling by car, too. In fact, earlier this year it was revealed that London is (still) the world’s slowest city for travelling by car – and now new data in Metro has revealed which areas of the capital are worst for car traffic. 

Data from the Department for Transport (Dft) found that Hillingdon has the most traffic congestion in the capital. Home to Heathrow, the fourth-busiest airport in the world, and the M40 motorway, it’s fair to say the result isn’t so surprising. 

And according to the DfT, 1.44 billion vehicle miles were travelled in the borough last year, putting it ahead of Havering in east London where drivers tallied a total of 1.12 billion miles. 

Congestion has been a hot topic in London in recent years. The city has introduced a number of measures to tackle the issue, including expanding the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and introducing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs). Both of which may somewhat explain why the City of London and Islington were revealed by the DfT as two areas with the least amount of traffic. 

Here’s a full list of the areas with the most congestion, as well as those with the least. 

Five London boroughs with the most congestion

1. Hillingdon 
2. Havering 
3. Enfield
4. Barnet 
5. Hounslow 

Five London boroughs with the least congestion 

1. City of London 
2. Islington 
3. Hackney
4. Camden 
5. Hammersmith and Fulham

Transport in London 

However you travel around London, there’s always more travel news. Recently on Time Out we covered how London might be getting more LTNs, TfL is planning to spend £30 million on making the tube quieter and eight bus routes in north London have just been saved from being scrapped. 

ICYMI: Skip the traffic and take part in World Car Free Day this September.

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