Edinburgh worse than Paris and Rome for congestion

THEY have reputations as car-heavy cities, where vehicles queue in gridlock around the Arc de Triomphe and angry motorists hoot their horns as they find themselves trapped in traffic jams outside the Colosseum.

But a new report which has examined data from 13 European capitals has revealed that there is a European city worse for congestion than Paris and Rome: Edinburgh.

The Scottish capital is second only to London for having busy roads clogged with traffic, due to its poor use of bicycles, expensive public transport and poor air quality, the report claimed.

It is also the third worst of all the capital cities in terms of its residents’ dependency on cars – beaten by only Belfast and Rome. Swedish capital Stockholm was ranked best for its green public transport and cycle-friendly streets, followed by Finland’s capital city, Helsinki.

Stephen Joseph, chief executive for the Campaign for Better Transport, the organisation behind the report, called for better public transport to be introduced in the UK, and for pedestrians and cyclists to be given priority on the roads of Britain’s capital cities.

“Car dependency damages communities, affects our quality of life and has huge environmental consequences, so the UK cities’ poor standing should be of major concern to politicians,” said Mr Joseph.

“To catch up with the best in Europe, the UK governments need to recognise the economic benefits of good air quality and road safety, and ensure public transport, walking and cycling are comparable to car use in cost, journey time and quality.”

Edinburgh was praised in the report for a large number of journeys being taken by foot, but performed poorly in the majority of the other categories.

Even Rome, which is described in the report as a “traffic-stricken, chaotically developing city”, was deemed to be better than Edinburgh in terms of traffic congestion.

Andrew Howard, spokesman for motoring organisation the AA, said: “Edinburgh definitely does have a reputation in that way, which is obviously something the authorities are trying to look at, with the ongoing trams saga. However, it is not the most geographically friendly of cities for public transport, as rock rises through the city centre.

“What we also have to remember is that there are very big differences between mega conurbations such as Paris and a smaller capital city which is not necessarily the biggest city in the country.”

UK cities performed badly in the report due to poor air quality, high levels of congestion and, with the exception of Cardiff, the high cost of public transport.

A single bus fare in the Scottish capital costs £1.30 – low compared with London where a single cash fare is £2.20, but high compared with Prague where it costs between 85p and £1.13 for a ticket which can be used on more than one bus, tram or metro within a 75-minute period.

Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, transport convener at Edinburgh City Council, said: “This survey is not credible. In a UK context Edinburgh has low fares, and I have already made the point that the congestion figures they are using are deeply flawed in the opinion of transport professionals.

“Edinburgh has an excellent, award-winning bus service which operates a simple and economical flat fare structure.”