00:00Bristol drivers are now spending more than 120 hours a year stuck in traffic.
00:07That's over five full days lost behind the wheel, making this city one of the most congested in the UK.
00:15And the problem isn't just frustrating, it's costing the local economy millions in lost productivity and fuel.
00:22The average commuter across Bristol now takes 31 minutes to cover just five miles.
00:29At peak times, speeds drop so low that they're comparable to cycling or even walking.
00:36It's quite busy, isn't it? It's almost as busy as London, I'd say, if not more so.
00:40I don't drive myself, so I'm just a pedestrian.
00:43But yeah, everywhere seems to be quite busy and the road I live on sometimes just gets chocked up
00:48and I can just see cars outside queuing and queuing.
00:51So yeah, I think it's probably quite bad if you are a driver.
00:54Quite frankly, I'm super anti the electric bikes and scooters because there is no real facility for them.
01:04And as a result, great during COVID, don't get me wrong, but post-COVID, the number of new misses I have seen.
01:12I do a lot of walking and getting nearly run over by them as well.
01:18But the roads just are not engineered for them.
01:23And the one-way system around Bristol now basically cuts the north from the south, which I think is desperately sad.
01:30Public transport hasn't escaped either.
01:33Bus delays have increased by over 25% in the last 12 months,
01:39leaving thousands of passengers waiting longer for services that they rely on.
01:44Since the Clean Air Zone launched in late 2022, nitrogen dioxide levels have fallen in parts of the city.
01:53But traffic volumes are creeping back up.
01:56On some major routes, like the A38 and A370, there's been an increase of up to 15% since last summer.
02:03Then it's probably everywhere. It's just, it's a bit like Bath, you know, it's one of those, it's just a massive one-way system, you know,
02:11and there are places where it's quicker for me to walk to Sainsbury's than it is to drive because of all, you know, because of all this.
02:20I mean, I walk to Sainsbury's anyway, but I mean, there are a lot of places where, yeah, it's quicker to walk than it is to drive, you know.
02:29So, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know.
02:35One thing, a new study has come out that said Bristolians, on average, spend 128 hours a year in traffic in the city.
02:43What do you think about that statistic? Does it surprise you?
02:46It doesn't surprise me one bit, no. It doesn't affect me personal because, like I said, I'm not a driver.
02:52But I'm sure a lot of people, it must be very frustrating for a lot of people.
02:55So, yeah, it's not surprising at all, though.
Comments