Key statistics

• There are nearly half a million traffic jams in Britain every year. That is nearly 10,000 a week.

• There are between 200 and 300 incidents of major congestion every day.

  Britain's roads are becoming more congested

• A quarter of Britain's main roads are jammed for an hour a day.

• Congestion levels are forecast to grow by between 11 and 20 per cent over the next ten years.

• Nearly a quarter of people affected by congestion experience it every day and 55 per cent at least once a week.

• The cost of traffic jams to British business is �20 billion every year.

• Traffic levels in Britain are increasing by about three per cent every year.

• Over the past 20 years road traffic has grown by 70 per cent.

  There are 26 million cars on the road

• Left unchecked, road traffic could grow by more than a third in the next 20 years.

• There are 26 million cars on the road and this is expected to increase to at least 31 million by 2020.

• Only 12 per cent of all journeys are made by public transport in comparison to 85 per cent made by cars, vans and taxis.

• Britons spend an average of two weeks travelling including nine days in their cars.

• On weekdays car traffic is about 30 to 50 per cent heavier in the peak hours of the morning and afternoon.

• Twenty years ago, nearly one in three primary school aged children made their own way to school. Now only one child in nine makes their own way.

  The school run is creating havoc on Britain's roads

• The number of journeys to school by car has nearly doubled in the last ten years, from 16 to 30 per cent.

• During term time at 08:50 one car in five on urban roads is taking children to school.

• The school run is extending London commuter journey times by up to 50 per cent and trends are similar across the country.