Why is there so much traffic now?

Simple.......
1) Mass Immigration ...plus admitted more than 1 million illegal immigrants in the UK.
2) Over 50% of the working population are now Civil Servants ....having days off taking sickies !
   top economists say correct ratio 20/80 (income generators Vs. Income consumers).
3) The Country is down the toilet...everything phucked ..
Alah Akbar

Perhaps too many people and hence too many cars for a small island. Driving anywhere in the SE is like hell on earth.

Suck it up mate ...only going to get worse !

Good summing up Rocky..agree with what you say 100%

The way local authorities narrow the roads adding cycle lanes and bus lanes doesn't help.
Then there are direct traffic slowing measures like putting in small islands for pedestrians to cross along the carriageways near bus stops.
The bus stops and then so does all the traffic. 

They also like to mark parking alongside the road with curbs that jut out the full width of the nearside lane. It doesn't seem to occur to these people that you can't see them after it's snowed.
Plus the fact that if there aren't any cars parked you're likely to hit one anyway if you haven't been down the road before.
I wonder how many people have done that?

cyclists buses and pedestrians all getting the way of cars.

in the way!

we are over populated and people are living longer. Simple as that for me. I would shut the borders before it becomes impossible and everyone gets even angrier.

Everyone wants the convenience and privacy of a car so traffic will just continue to grow.
The only practical solution would be to ration fuel, one tankful a month (50 litres) would improve matters, especially the school run, but would be political suicide not to mention the loss of tax revenue.

more folk driving for starters .
too many 'poor' drivers not using the system properly .
too many uneccasary traffic lights.
too many uneccessary roadworks - what's all that about ?
too many unnessasarry journeys
too many folk  commuting outside of  their areas  .

maybe a little unfair to blame it on immigrants .


and i can't spell uneccesary

Need a few 12 lane motorways with 8 lane motorways off that.
I live in Dublin.  The motorway around the city, the M50, was originally a two lane job, proposed in 1971, completed in 2005 !!!

In 2006 they increased it to three lanes, and that is jammed most days.
They should have made it six lanes, with massive motorway connections off that.
My guess is the next step is an increase to four lanes, then an increase to five lanes.

Instead of saying there are two many cars, they should build more roads of the appropriate capacity.
And they should have separate roads for cyclists, separated footpaths for pedestrians.

Don't Panic....with robot driving systems (coming soon) cars will be able to drive much closer to each other creating a feeling of space elsewhere.

When there is no fuel available in the next couple of years it will be hybrids only so that should help ,however the millions of dumped petrol/diesel cars will cause tailbacks for the few green vehicles............

Was back in UK for six weeks earlier this year, had to use M25 three times and three times we were stuck in traffic for over two hours. Over three and a half hours to get to Reading, a journey we used to do in a hour and half. And never in rush hour. How long till gridlock? Twenty years?

As for a twelve lane motorway, you would still get the annoying **** doing 60MPH in lane eleven without a care in the world.

Glad I'm out of it now

A lot more families have two cars now than back in the day too.

trains and buses too expensive now petrol price has dropped
also no coordinated service between the too

Too few trains and stations.
Public transport too expensive.
No bus conductors (this slows things LOADS)
Too many yellow lines meaning too much traffic heading to the same car parks in any one location.
Too many superstores and the roundabouts and/or traffic lights which accompany them.
Not enough road building for years.
Middle lane hogs and bad, impatient drivers causing concertina effects on busy motorways.

Raise the driving age to 20. Retest old folk at 75 or 80 (whatever) and fail them if they are as c^&p as most of them are and take them off the road.
Sounds harsh? Gotta do something or as a poster before says, gridlock.
Do this as well as shut the borders IMO.

5m more cars on the road since 2000 with no expansion.

school runs init!

this could easily be solved!

all foreigners need to be off the road by 8am.

leaving all english folk to go about their daily business

I'm afraid all of you have failed to provide the correct answer.

"Why is there so much traffic now?". There isn't. It's just that things are all a bit too much for you because you're too old and too slow!
And as for you young 'uns: It's because your Play-Station brains can't adjust to real-life, real data driving.

Crack down on speeders and ban them.
That should clear loads of people of the roads.

Six months ban for a first offence. One years ban for a second, then a lifetime ban for a third.

Also raise road tax to £1,000 per year for private cars for a start.
Pricing people off the road is the way to go.

Some interesting points on here a lot of which, some indirectly, relate to moves which Denmark took in the 1970s. There they took measures to positively discourage drivers from using their cars and made other forms of transport more attractive. More and cheaper public transport, a proper segregated joined up cycle network. Pedestrians, cyclists and public transport take priority on the roads and it's the cars which have to stop and/or go the long way round. Very little car parking in towns and more people living over shops and commercial buildings in town centres. They realised that to keep building more and bigger roads was not the answer as it only encourages more car use and soon the need to build more and bigger roads.
In Copenhagen outside the railway station is a sign which lights up at about 9pm with the message " 100,000 cyclists have passed this sign today"
Out in the sticks the bus stops have a secure bicycle store attached so people cycle to the bus, leave their bike locked up, and get the bus which is a cheap, reliable and frequent service, into town.

Cars are very desirable.

Cars are cheaper to buy than they have ever been.

We can afford them.

fkn bstid drivers think you own the roads.

Someone mentioned the school run. I travel extensively in Northern Europe and the UK is the only place I've seen the chaos of the school run.

It's fair to say there has been a massive failure to invest in our infrastructure, both road, rail and air.

There was plenty of money available for investment during the thirteen years that Labour was in power .
So what did they do with it - they gave it away in benefits to the sick lame and lazy and went to war.
So they did nothing for the infrastructure during a golden period of growth.
And left the country in debt with stuff like power, roads, air and transport needing heavy investment.   

Now this lot that's in now, is getting it in the neck for trying to get the country back on an even keel.

I'd agree with the lack of investment during the good years, but we are still relying on 1970's infrastructure re motorways and victorian infrastructure regarding trains, water, sewers etc.

Too much focus on the bottom line and not enough on provision for the future.

Ban all private car ownership.Everyone can catch the bus or tram or cycle or walk. Long distance coach or train..Sorted !

its to do with the price of fuel ... much cheaper than 2 years ago causing an increase in miles driven and cars .. i do agree though it's awful now.

Dr Crippen   
26 Oct 15 21:38 
Crack down on speeders and ban them.
That should clear loads of people of the roads.

On the contrary, crack down on anyone not speeding and ban them. They are the ones slowing everything down. The ones speeding aren't holding people up, they are getting their journeys done quicker so getting off the road sooner, freeing it up for other people. Selfless stuff.

There can never be enough Traffic.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSQ1akE2CcM

Yes Roger but speeders tend to crash their cars, and then the inconvenience to other road users is awful.
The tailbacks can go back for miles, while they wait for the ambulance to arrive to scrape up the body parts scattered all over the carriageway.

Good job the state of driving is so good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DGZY5ovS5w

Mind, it could be Russia.

Hundreds of new houses being built near me and traffic is bad now and will only get  worse. Big need for a relief road but no plans for that, they say it will cost too much money......... so they stick in a couple more roundabouts ! 

In a small town with a fast growing population it's chaos.  Gridlocked roads, overcrowded schools, big strain on health services, strain on infrastructure.  Locals not properly consulted about new and bigger housing developments which will have a big impact. Bully-Boy tactics by councillors and the goverment, plans just seem to be build more houses and build build build !

.....end of rant !

far too many lorries everything seems to be transported them open up the railways and canals ban lorries from all but the inside lane

Oct 28, 2015 -- 2:29PM, Hound-Dog-2 wrote:

Hundreds of new houses being built near me and traffic is bad now and will only get  worse. Big need for a relief road but no plans for that, they say it will cost too much money......... so they stick in a couple more roundabouts !  In a small town with a fast growing population it's chaos.  Gridlocked roads, overcrowded schools, big strain on health services, strain on infrastructure.  Locals not properly consulted about new and bigger housing developments which will have a big impact. Bully-Boy tactics by councillors and the goverment, plans just seem to be build more houses and build build build !.....end of rant !

>To be fair, there's not a lot of point in appealing against individual planning applications - no matter how big or small; unless they go against the local policy framework. It's that initial local planning policy you need to argue against, because once that's in place, the council can't really sway against it, otherwise the planning inspector will just overrule and give developers to go ahead anyway.

Now they are spending billions of taxpayers money on so called 'Smart Motorways' which were 'Managed Motorways' until somebody smart came up with a smarter name.

" plans just seem to be build more houses and build build build !"

so Britain is a country where house-building is out of control

To be fair, there's not a lot of point in appealing against individual planning applications - no matter how big or small; unless they go against the local policy framework. It's that initial local planning policy you need to argue against, because once that's in place, the council can't really sway against it, otherwise the planning inspector will just overrule and give developers to go ahead anyway.

Money talks!!!

My first time in Landan, to buy my TR6 from Caterham cars, darn the Finchley Rowd, and I couldn't believe the traffic!

That was in '71, and now it's just as bad (or maybe worse) where I live, around the York area.

Way back then, when bored, and having made no plans, we would say "let's go out for a run"!

It was just a pleasure to drive around the countryside, and go where fancy took us, with usually a stop for lunch or just a drink.

Now it's pure misery (well at least until you clear the urban conurbation) and doesn't matter what day, or time of day and, woe betide you,
if it's a racing day!

Agree Aunty ! Use to go for a drive for pleasure, but hate driving now.

No government has had the balls to subsidise public transport which has worked in other countries to reduce traffic.

ttt

no new roads but a driver education programme .

all the hold ups i was in yesterday were all about lack of consideration .

and my town of (Ipswich)  is like  a f***g traffic light convention .  And the sequencing is diabolical  .

no wonder i stay home so much

I've done high mileage (circa 25k) commuting since the early 70s.

Went self employed in '82 and immediately jumped to 35k plus.

Gave it all up for this business in 2009, when I got my new Type R-GT which I still have.

It's still under 18k miles as I only do around 3k now and that is shared between two cars.

The farthest I go is to my son's place (under sufferance) which is approx 40 miles, and a miserable 1hr crawl through permanent M62 roadworks,
and the bleakness of the Huddersfield Road, taking in such scenic delights as Birstall and the fringes of Batley, Heckmondwike and Liversedge
before reaching what is a gem in West Yorkshire being historic Roberttown.

Ok, not all of West Yorks is a sh!thole, if you discount most of the old mill towns. In fact much of it is a delight to be in, as our good friend kenny will concur I'm sure....

invest in integrated transport system

Our local County Councillor recently admitted that they were reluctant to take any measures against private cars because such a move would be unpopular. Ie they would lose votes because in the UK the car rules. Her other reason was because it would be expensive ignoring the huge cost to the country of a road system which now doesn't work.

'Integrated Transport System' ? I think Jim Hacker is still working on that.

the simple answer is we have all become lazy fickers see it every day people taking kids to school in cars all of 250 yards lazy tw@ts

Agreed. Far too many unnecessary journeys when it would be quicker/easier to walk or cycle. My neighbour takes the car to the chip shop which is about 500 yards away but it doesn't explain why the motorways are clogged up.

most of our arterials are now under long stretches of gestapo style 50mph average speed rules .. this i am sure was to subcontract out the cameras for a guaranteed take .. however most adhere to this so they are loosing money and therefore extended for longer ... but the traffic situation is dire  .. for A and M roads on a monday morning a 5 o'clock leave is neccessary

Lots of young people still living at home into their twenties - as house buying is not an option and they are too tight (and molly-coddled by mummy who can't face life without her little darlings) to rent.

Because they have a high disposable income they can easily afford a car.