Hull is the joint third most congested city in the UK according to analysis of traffic data from sat nav giants TomTom. A rush hour drive through the city takes 34% longer during rush hour than in free-flowing conditions. These figures mean that a journey of 30 minutes in normal traffic would take an additional 19 minutes in rush hour. Added up over a year, this could mean an additional 151 hours, or 6 days and 7 hours, is spent driving in rush hour. To give this some context it might be worth considering what else you could do with all of that ‘lost’ time. You could watch 87 football matches. You could watch 134 episodes of Game Of Thrones, or complete thirty 500 piece jigsaw puzzles. You could, according to TomTom, cook 4,379 pancakes. Or you could listen to John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ 2,910 times. Although, personally, I would mix it up a little bit and listen to some different tunes as well!
Not only is sitting in traffic a waste of precious time, it can also be irritating, meaning we arrive at work or home tired and stressed. Added to that is all the extra pollution we are putting into the atmosphere, harming our environment and ourselves. So often when I look at a line of traffic during rush hour I notice that most cars only have one or maybe two occupants. Including my own car I might add.
So what are the alternatives? There are several of course. Electric cars are often incredible machines, but they are often prohibitively expensive and they also need special charging points, which are still not widely available. Public transport is another option and it works well for lots of people. Although most buses are still emitting harmful gasses and particles into our atmosphere. Trains can be great too. But they can also be crowded and expensive and not that many of us in Hull and the surrounding area live close enough to a railway station to make it a viable option for getting around our city. Plus, timings of buses and trains may not always suit, especially if your day involves hopping between different locations. Walking is great, but not the quickest way to commute and if you live close enough to your workplace to walk you’re probably not part of congestion on the roads anyway. We are big cycling fans here at NIU Hull. It’s healthy and it’s fun and you can often beat the traffic when it is congested. But arriving at work hot and sweaty isn’t always ideal. And then there is the lycra!
So what does that leave? I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this, given you are already on a scooter dealer’s website! Our range of NIU electric scooters offer an inexpensive and fun way to get around the area. You can get from A to B and on to C and D quickly and easily without getting held up in traffic. You can also do this without adding to air or noise pollution. The removable batteries can be charged using a standard 13 amp domestic socket. Road tax is free and precisely zero emissions are produced on your journey. Whether you use it instead of the car once or twice a week or every day you are reducing your carbon footprint with every journey you make. So you can make a difference, right now. And please remember, you’re not stuck in traffic, you are traffic! And the more stationary traffic we have the more pollution increases.
We’d love to hear what you think about all of this. Please leave a comment below. A healthy debate is good for all of us and a range of different opinions can lead to better solutions. Thank you for taking the time to read. If you’d like to see more of the data from TomTom for Hull, or your own city you can do so by clicking on the following link: