Rise in Traffic Levels During Lockdown 'Concerning'

A senior Public Health England official has expressed concern as traffic levels show signs of increasing, despite stringent lockdown conditions.

This is particularly prevalent in London, where photos emerged of congested roads in areas of the capital. Statistics from the TomTom traffic congestion index show around 20% of London’s roads were congested, compared to the usual 40%, but that is still 15% higher in comparison to other major cities across the World currently on lockdown.

Yvonne Doyle, director for health protection at Public Health England, said in a recent daily briefing; “It’s a slightly concerning trend, because we have seen an uptick in motor vehicle traffic.

“The message here really is people do need to stay at home, and most are doing the right thing as you can see from the rapid decline in public transport use.

“So everyone needs to do that, the message here is: we need to save lives and to protect the NHS. So please stay at home.”

Travel has been limited to essential journeys only – for medicine and food – while key workers are allowed to travel to and from work. Stagecoach has furloughed more than half of its regional bus drivers and engineering workers after the Financial Times reported the company’s ticket sales have declined to 15% of normal sales levels.

It also suspended its Megabus service between cities as the country continues, on the whole, to respect the lockdown.

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