Editing Traffic congestion (section)

===United Kingdom===
[[File:Traffic Jam - geograph.org.uk - 391642.jpg|thumb|Congestion on [[A64 road]] heading towards to [[York]]]]
In the United Kingdom the inevitability of congestion in some urban road networks has been officially recognized since the [[Department for Transport]] set down policies based on the report ''[[Traffic in Towns]]'' in 1963:
<blockquote>
Even when everything that it is possibly to do by way of building new roads and expanding public transport has been done, there would still be, in the absence of deliberate limitation, more cars trying to move into, or within our cities than could possibly be accommodated.<ref name=tit>
{{Cite book| title = Traffic in Towns | date = 1963–1964 | publisher = [[Penguin Books]] in association with [[HMSO]] | at = Para 30 }}</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:Railway bridge near Moira - geograph.org.uk - 307866.jpg|thumb|A solution to traffic congestion using [[Northern Ireland Railways]] from [[Moira railway station|Moira]] to [[Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station|Belfast Great Victoria Street]]]]

The Department for Transport sees growing congestion as one of the most serious transport problems facing the UK.<ref>
{{cite web
| title = Tackling congestion on our roads
| url = http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/roadcongestion/
| publisher = Department for Transport
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080423050200/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/roadcongestion/
| archive-date = April 23, 2008
}}</ref> On December 1, 2006, [[Rod Eddington]] published a UK government-sponsored [[Eddington Transport Study|report into the future of Britain's transport infrastructure]]. The Eddington Transport Study set out the case for action to improve road and rail networks, as a "crucial enabler of sustained productivity and competitiveness". Eddington has estimated that congestion may cost the economy of England £22 bn a year in lost time by 2025. He warned that roads were in serious danger of becoming so congested that the economy would suffer.<ref>
{{cite web
| title = Delivering choice and reliability
| url = http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speechesstatements/speeches/congestion
| publisher = Department for Transport
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081122094312/http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speechesstatements/speeches/congestion
| archive-date = November 22, 2008
}}</ref> At the launch of the report Eddington told journalists and transport industry representatives introducing [[road pricing]] to encourage drivers to drive less was an "economic no-brainer". There was, he said "no attractive alternative". It would allegedly cut congestion by half by 2025, and bring benefits to the British economy totaling £28 bn a year.<ref>
{{cite web
 |title=The Eddington Transport Study 
 |author=Rod Eddington 
 |date=December 2006 
 |url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/transportstrategy/eddingtonstudy/ 
 |publisher=UK Treasury 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324002356/http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/transportstrategy/eddingtonstudy/ 
 |archive-date=March 24, 2008 
}}</ref>

A [[London congestion charge|congestion charge]] for driving in central London was introduced in 2003. In 2013, ten years later, [[Transport for London]] reported that the scheme resulted in a 10% reduction in traffic volumes from baseline conditions, and an overall reduction of 11% in vehicle kilometers in London. Despite these gains, traffic speeds in central London became progressively slower.