Britain’s Inner-City motorists are stationary for up to half of their morning rush hour journey – an increase of 10.9% in the past two years - according to new research by Citroën.

The Company commissioned the study to highlight the environmental and financial benefits of its “Stop & Start” technology. Currently available on the Citroën C2 and C3 superminis, the intelligent system maximises economy and minimises CO2 emissions by turning off the car’s engine when stationary. Independent testing has shown a Stop & Start vehicle can return a 27% fuel saving in urban driving conditions.

Following an original study in 2006, Citroën’s research assessed traffic congestion in five major city centres – London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Norwich and Manchester during the rush hour. The snapshot showed commuters to be stationary for 25 minutes – 42% of the time – in an average one hour journey in which they travelled just 12.9 miles.

Perhaps surprisingly, London motorists covered almost twice as many miles as they did in 2006 – 13.2 compared to 6.8 - yet were stationary for around 5 minutes longer. Cardiff motorists experienced the least change, covering the biggest distance of all the cities assessed, which may compensate for the fact that they endured the longest time stationary.

	2006		2008
City	Time Stationary	Miles Covered	Time Stationary	Miles Covered
London	19m 20s	6.8	24m 06s	13.2
Norwich	20m 32s	15.7	21m 20s	10.0
Manchester	21m 00s	16.2	25m 02s	10.9
Birmingham	21m 44s	14.8	23m 55s	14.2
Cardiff	30m 13s	15.7	30m 46s	16.3
AVERAGE	22m 34s	13.8	25m 02s	12.9

*Journeys were carried out between 0750 and 0850 hrs on weekdays between 16th & 21st July 2008.