Car journeys are longer

Journeys on seven out of 12 key routes into London are slower than they were a year ago, new figures show.

Despite the introduction of congestion charging, journey times on some routes are now taking up to 14 per cent longer.

While journeys on five other routes are still quicker compared with February 2002, traffic on major roads leading into London has been steadily creeping up since congestion charging began.

Thousands of motorists now face longer trips into London as a result, says Trafficmaster, the road-monitoring company, which carried out the survey.

On the worst-affected road, an 8.2-mile stretch of the A10 from Waltham Cross to Stoke Newington, journeys that a year ago took just 53 minutes are now taking 60.6 minutes, an increase of 14 per cent.

On an 8.2-mile stretch of the busy A316 from Sunbury Cross to Ravenscourt Park, journey times have risen by 13 per cent, boosting a journey that took just 44.6 minutes in February 2002 to an average of 50.2 minutes in week three.

Some of the increases are marginal. On the A2/A102 between Dartford and the Blackwall Tunnel - a 14.8-mile trip - journey times have gone from 49.2 minutes to 49.5; a rise of just one per cent.

And on an 8.7-mile stretch of the A20 from Swanley to Eltham, journey times have speeded up from a year ago by 20 per cent. In February 2002 the journey took 23.8 minutes compared to just 19.1 minutes last week.

Trafficmaster said that when congestion charging was introduced, during half-term, journey times on most routes were dramatically slashed. On week two, most journeys were still quicker than on a similar week the year before.

The figures, obtained from journeys carried out last week, are in sharp contrast to week two, however.

Then, only two of the 12 journeys were taking longer than last year. Last week's figures show that, compared-with week one, the 6.37-mile trip on the A41 between Mill Hill and Regent's Park has doubled from slightly more than 20 minutes to more than 41 minutes last week.

Today Trafficmaster said journey times had increased because of motorists attempting to find new routes to avoid the congestion charging zone and the £5 toll.

"We believe people are now trying out other routes that will take them around the outside of the zone, and that some may be parking on the outskirts of London," said a Trafficmaster spokesman.

"Week three is more of a true indication of the effects of the charge as all schools are now back from halfterm. On the A10, a major commuter route, motorists are having a considerably longer journey as this displacement occurs."

Jonathan Simpson, of the RAC Foundation, said: "We believe that in weeks one and two of congestion charging, not only was it half-term but many drivers were trying public transport instead.

"Now that they have experienced travelling on trains and the Tube they are going back to their cars and trying out new routes. Many are taking longer, although some are better now. However, it will take many months before we can see the full impact of congestion charging."

Transport for London said it was still too early to draw any firm conclusions from the findings.