The slowest city on Earth: How Sadiq Khan’s gridlocked capital is the worst in the WORLD for drivers with average speed of just 10pmh after spread of LTNs and hated Ulez extension

London is the slowest city in the world for motorists, with traffic moving at an average of just 10mph – due to widespread 20mph speed limits, a study claimed today.

Last year, drivers took 37 minutes and 20 seconds to travel just 10 kilometers in the city – a minute longer than in 2022, according to satellite navigation company TomTom.

It comes amid Mayor Sadiq Khan’s expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) last year and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, which could see drivers face fines.

And TomTom claimed that the 30 km/h limits, which were also extended last year, may have led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions due to longer journey times.

The second slowest city center in the world is Dublin, with 10 kilometer journeys typically taking 29 minutes and 30 seconds. It was followed by Toronto, Canada (29 minutes); Milan, Italy (28 minutes and 50 seconds); and Lima, Peru (28 minutes and 30 seconds).

Stephanie Leonard, head of government and regulatory affairs at TomTom, told MailOnline: ‘London really is the slowest place in the world to drive.

‘Certainly in the city center there is no maximum speed of 80 km/h or higher, but a maximum of 32 km/h. You don’t have the infrastructure to drive very fast.’

She added that in three cities with low emissions or clean air zones, the greenhouse gas CO2 emitted by a typical petrol car increased by 1.5 percent in London and by 0.5 percent in Birmingham.

London drivers had the longest journey time of the 387 cities in 55 countries analyzed, putting the capital at the top of the rankings of slow city centers for the second year in a row.

TomTom found that not only are central London’s roads the slowest in the world when traffic is flowing freely, but drivers here also lose the most time due to traffic congestion.

The research also shows that London had the third highest fuel prices in the world last year.

Ms Leonard said: ‘Our analysis of the economic impact of traffic congestion showed that London’s slow-moving traffic and higher fuel consumption made it one of the most expensive cities in the world to drive.

‘Avoiding peak hours could save Londoners up to £187 a year in fuel costs.

‘At the same time, local governments should support programs that encourage cycling, public transport and other modes of transport to take a greater share of transport.’

Transport for London (TfL) reduced speed limits to 30km/h on a further 40 miles of roads in the south of the capital in the last four months of last year.

When the measure was announced in September, the transport body – chaired by Mr Khan – said it would bring the total length of roads with a 20mph limit to 87 miles, making them ‘safer for everyone’.

In Britain, Manchester was the second slowest city (23 minutes 30 seconds), followed by Liverpool (22 minutes 50 seconds), Bristol (22 minutes 40 seconds) and Edinburgh (21 minutes 30 seconds).

Travel times increased last year in 21 of the 25 cities analyzed in Britain. TomTom based its analysis on journeys within a 5 km radius of city centres.

But a spokesman for Mr Khan said: ‘This study is misleading because it only includes analysis of a very small part of the city centre, and not the whole of London.

‘Extensive TfL data suggests that journey times on the TfL road network actually remain at similar levels to 2019, while analysis from across the UK suggests that lower speed limits have not increased congestion.

‘Road works are the biggest cause of traffic congestion in cities. That’s why the Mayor’s Infrastructure Coordination Service is working with boroughs and utilities to reduce delays caused by roadworks, saving London road users more than 1,250 days of roadworks since 2019.”

TfL’s director of network operations and resilience Carl Eddleston added: ‘We disagree with this analysis of road speeds and believe it is not representative of London as a whole.

‘This report only looks at data collected up to 5km from the centre, regardless of the overall size and density of the city, meaning fair comparisons with other cities cannot be made.’

However, Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall said: ‘This is the result of Sadiq Khan’s war on motorists, which has blocked our roads and made London the worst city in the world to drive in.’

She vowed to ‘end general 30km/h limits on main roads’ if she wins the May elections.

In October last year, the government published a plan for drivers, which included the intention to restrict the use of these limits.

It said: ‘We will make it clear that 20mph speed limits in England should be applied appropriately where people want them – and not as unwarranted blanket measures.’

This came a month after Wales became the first country in Britain to reduce the standard speed limit from 48 km/h to 30 km/h on residential roads and roads often used by pedestrians.

The 20mph limit in Wales has been in force since yesterday and the Welsh Government has confirmed that motorists will face penalties if they exceed the limit.

However, GoSafe Wales, which links Wales Police and local authorities in a road safety network, has said that enforcement of fines will only start at 10 per cent of the speed limit plus 6km/h.

In practice, this means that drivers in Wales will only be prosecuted if they are caught driving faster than 40 km/h in a 32 km/h zone.