Just 9.3mph: that’s the average car speed in London

According to Transport Statistics Great Britain 2007 the average speed of a car in central London in the morning rush hour is just 9.3 miles per hour. This is only twice the speed of walking.

According to research published by Citroen last year, cyclists average 13-15 miles per hour.

And according to motorists’ GPS data collected by keepmoving.co.uk, Britain’s cities have some of the slowest car speeds in Europe.

Traffic speed in 30 cities across Europe was surveyed during a four month period from June to September 2007. Keepmoving.co.uk identified London as Europe’s slowest city and ranks six British cities in the top 10 slowest cities in Europe.

Alex Petrie, product director at Keepmoving.co.uk, said:

“To complete the study, large quantities of GPS data were collected directly from thousands of vehicles travelling throughout Europe. Examining this data has allowed us to calculate average speeds from the perspective of the road user, which provides a far more realistic benchmark over a far wider area, than by measuring road speeds at pre-specified locations.”

Keepmoving.co.uk is a company that makes its money from advising motorists of gridlock hotspots but, revealingly, a company statement plugged bicycle use:

“In London, it is quicker to hop on a bike, as cyclists at rush hour recorded an average speed of 14 mph and even a horse and cart travels at 7 mph.”

Pic from Manchester’s Loveyourbike.org. Click here for bigger version.