A study of 20 UK cities reveals commuters waste on average 12 days a year sitting in congestion, according to new research by Admiral.

It found drivers are losing an average of 12 days a year sitting in their vehicles during rush hour traffic, with drivers in Cambridge spending almost double that – 23 days – getting to and from work at peak times.

Newcastle was the least congested city, with a rush hour journey adding just 20 minutes on average, equivalent to six days per year, half the national average.

Admiral compared the travel time for three routes into each city calculating the time for the same journey arriving at 9am on a Sunday morning when roads are traditionally quiet, compared with arriving at peak commuter time of 9am on Monday morning.

Congested cities: how many days do we lose to commuting?

Based on comparing journey times for arrival at 9am Monday morning (rush hour) with 9am Sunday morning.

Admiral also analysed the number of cars and vans entering each city for work compared with those leaving the city to commute elsewhere, to understand the direct impact on city congestion.

Aberdeen has the highest influx of commuters – leading to a 406% increase in vehicles, while Brighton is the only city where more vehicles commute away from the city than into it, resulting in a 3% decrease.

With 38,750 cars and vans coming into Aberdeen but only 7,654 commuting away from the city, the net population increase of traffic in Aberdeen was 406% increase – the most of any city investigated.

Cambridge was second with 294% as a result of 34,959 cars/vans entering but only 8,874 leaving the city. In Edinburgh 56,878 entered and 18,190 left equating to a 213% increase. Brighton was the only city where more drivers left the city (20,022) than entered (19,443) making the roads 3% quieter.

Commuter congestion: the impact of industry

Sabine Williams, head of motor at Admiral, said: “Commuters won’t be surprised to hear that journey times are significantly longer in rush hour traffic, but looking at the figures in terms of ‘wasted’ days will really bring home how much time we can spend behind the wheel.

“Simple measures like planning ahead, leaving plenty of time, or working from home where possible will all help reduce the amount of time spent in traffic congestion. Car sharing could also help reduce congestion, with many local authorities and businesses having schemes to match people with similar journeys who could team up to travel together.

“Commuters suffering congestion in cities like Cambridge may find that new public transport options including the guided bus can save significant amounts of time, and with Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton set to be ‘clean air zones’ by 2020, drivers of older diesel vehicles in particular will be well placed to start considering alternatives.

“As a nation we’re clearly still big fans of commuting by car, with 19 of the 20 cities we investigated showing net inflows of commuters. If new homes being built across the continue to have the average of 1.16 vehicles per household, our roads are set to get busier too, making congestion worse.”