Everyone has experienced the seething frustration that comes with being stuck in traffic, especially when you’re late for work or picking up the children from school.

But just why are so many of Britain’s towns and cities coming to a standstill?

Many motorists believe they have found the culprits — the hundreds of miles of new cycle lanes that take up swathes of roads in our busiest urban areas.

Everyone has experienced the seething frustration that comes with being stuck in traffic, especially when you’re late for work or picking up the children from school. Pictured, Harry Wallop and Katherine Clementine

Critics, including the Mail, point out that for much of the day these lanes are hardly used, leading to congestion for drivers at all times of day — not just rush hour.

In London, a £913 million network of segregated cycle superhighways, introduced by former mayor Boris Johnson, is said by many to be part of the reason why average vehicle speeds in the centre of the capital have fallen to 7.4mph — slower than in the 18th century.

So, are drivers really being left in the slow lane by endless bicycle lanes? To find out, Harry Wallop raced a fellow commuter, Katherine Clementine, across London, with both following the same route — he on a bike, she in a car.

Two pairs of volunteers did the same test in Manchester and Bristol. To ensure we gave both modes of transport a fair crack of the whip, the races took place at rush hour and towards lunchtime, when motor traffic, in particular, should have died down.

London

Leg 1: Tower of London to Tate Britain gallery on Millbank — 4.25 miles

Start time: 8.13am

On your marks, get set, go! We set off from just east of the Tower of London on Cable Street. It is the site of the blue, two-way CS3 cycle lane.

Within 100 yards, I have overtaken Katherine as I join the throng of cycling commuters. Her Ford Fiesta is stuck in traffic, unable to clear the first set of lights before me.

I am slightly taken aback by how many cyclists there are, and how willing they are to risk swerving on to the wrong side of the cycle lane to overtake — and I soon witness my first cycle-on-cycle crash. Luckily, both of the Lycra-clad men look unhurt.

Many motorists believe they have found the culprits — the hundreds of miles of new cycle lanes that take up swathes of roads in our busiest urban areas

By 8.17am, I have reached the new East-West Cycle Superhighway on the Embankment. It’s about four yards wide and separated from the traffic by a pavement. It takes Katherine until 8.32am to get here. ‘After 17 minutes, the fastest I’d managed was 12mph for a few seconds,’ she says.

The Cycle Superhighway is impressive. The only difficulty is negotiating the complex lights, which sometimes let you go ahead of the cars and sometimes hold you back.

It’s busy. At Blackfriars, there are so many cyclists at one junction that I can’t make it through before the lights change. But that is the only delay before I hit Parliament Square — when I look up to see Big Ben, it’s 8.33am. No such luck for Katherine. ‘On the Embankment I was stuck — I was there for so long, I could nearly have got out and grabbed a cup of coffee.’

I arrive at Tate Britain at 8.39am, and wait on the steps for Katherine, who arrives 20 minutes later.

Bicycle: 26 minutes, average speed 9.8mph

Car: 46 minutes, speed 5.5mph

Return Leg: Tate Britain to Tower of London

Start time: 11.03am

I was not surprised that with London’s new cycle lanes, a bicycle beat a car at peak rush hour. But by 11am surely the traffic will have died down? Indeed, outside Tate Britain, Millbank is deserted; within the first few yards, Katherine glides past.

But her advantage doesn’t last long. Less than a mile later, at Parliament Square, I ease in front, as she is stuck in a queue. My advantage only increases. As I pass Big Ben and enter the Cycle SuperHighway, I see ahead of me a 350-yard stretch devoid of cyclists. By Waterloo Bridge, I have met just five coming in the other direction.

Throughout the entire 2.7-mile stretch from Westminster to the Tower of London, 30 cyclists come in the other direction, and I see just two others travelling eastwards with me. Yet the traffic on the road is bumper-to-bumper cars, vans, taxis and lorries. ‘Three minutes into crawling along the Embankment, I’d still not seen a single cyclist go past,’ says Katherine.

Katherine Clementine sitting in traffic next to an empty cycle lane on Victoria Embankment heading towards Westminster

I finish at 11.27am. Katherine does not reach our destination until 11.52am. Even to me as a keen cyclist, this is madness. Our new cycle lanes are great when they’re being used in rush hour, but can’t urban planners design a scheme to give back the lanes to vehicles in the middle of the day?

‘Why can’t cycle lanes have retractable bollards, which go down after rush hour?’ Katherine asks at the finish line. Why indeed.

Bicycle: 24 minutes, speed 10.6mph

Car: 49 minutes, speed 5.2mph

Bristol

Leg 1: Clifton Suspension Bridge to Filton — 5.6 miles

Start time: 8.28am

Starting next to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Megan King, 27, on a bicycle, and 21-year-old Beki Elmer, in her Mazda2, set off through Bristol towards the suburb of Filton, where a lot of businesses are based.

The traffic is pretty light for the first mile, past the Georgian houses of Clifton, and Beki establishes a decent lead. ‘I didn’t hit my first bit of traffic until I headed up the A4018. At this stage, there were quite a lot of cars but no bikes going past,’ says Beki.

However, seven minutes in, at 8.35am, Megan is pedalling along the side of the road and sails past Beki, who has got stuck in what has started to become quite heavy traffic.

‘She was just able to weave in between the vehicles — frustrating, when I sat in a line of cars,’ says Beki.

Into the third mile, the roads narrow. ‘It’s difficult to overtake the bikes in front of me,’ says Beki. ‘I worry that there’s not enough room — especially when there is also a cycle lane on the other side of the road.’

Cyclist Megan King and motorist Beki Elmer pictured at the end of a commuter race across Bristol

To make matters worse, there is a long stretch along the A4018 where there is a joint pedestrian/cycle path, but many cyclists are not using it, including Megan. She says: ‘I’m choosing to stay on the road because it’s too dangerous when I need to join a roundabout at the end of the road.’

Beki says she understands why Megan feels the cycle path is badly designed, but adds: ‘Perhaps if cyclists used the lane, the traffic would move slightly quicker.’

At 8.43am, thanks to the quite steep hill, Beki caught up and overtook Megan, but not for long. ‘I was then sat in heavy traffic for ten minutes,’ she says.

While Beki faced a no-right-turn sign where she wanted to turn off — and had to go further up the road to a roundabout and come back on the other carriageway — Megan was able to use a cycle lane to cut across the road and knock several minutes off her journey.

‘That made a huge difference,’ says Beki. ‘It was frustrating.’

Megan arrived on her bike at 8.57am. Beki made it at 9.04am.

Bicycle: 29 minutes, speed 11.6mph

Car: 36 minutes, speed 9.3mph

Return leg: Filton to Clifton

Start time: 12.20pm

Megan is at an immediate disadvantage at the start of the return leg because of the big hill on Filton Avenue. ‘I passed Megan after about 20 seconds,’ says Beki.

Her lead extends quickly, thanks not just to the hill of Filton Avenue, but also the poor state of Gloucester Road. ‘There are huge pot holes in the cycle lane,’ says Megan.

Beki hits only one snag: another badly designed cycle lane. ‘It’s narrow and there are dozens of parked cars, so cyclists weave into the road,’ she says. By the time she gets to Bristol Zoo, she is able to drive at more than 20mph. She finishes at 12.43pm — five minutes ahead of Megan.

Bicycle: 28 minutes, speed 12mph

Car: 23 minutes, speed 14.6mph

Manchester

Leg 1: Fallowfield to the Town Hall, Albert Square — 3.4 miles

Start time: 8.05am

Andrew Chamberlain, 39, was confident he’d beat a bicycle to the centre of the city, even though Stewart Whittingham, 46, on two wheels, got an early lead.

Manchester’s notoriously bad traffic was having a good day. ‘As I accelerated up to 30mph — passing bikes in the cycle lane beside me — the satnav said I’d arrive in a little over ten minutes. I thought it’d be a doddle. How wrong I was.’

Close to Whitworth Park, traffic signs indicated that cars were banned from travelling down this stretch of Oxford Road — a newish restriction. Andrew had to take a detour around the back of the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Stewart — allowed to stay on the main road without being diverted — powered ahead on his bike. But he didn’t have an entirely smooth ride. ‘The slowest part of my journey was caused by many cycle lanes being closed near the university as workmen toil to create even bigger “Dutch-style” cycle lanes,’ he says. ‘I ended up being bunched up in the crush of fellow cyclists.’

Pictured, Andrew Chamberlain in his car and Stewart Whittingham on his bike

Some swung out on to the main road to overtake him, and he reckons he saw 70 fellow cyclists during the journey. Once Andrew, in his BMW estate, got back on to Oxford Road, the traffic only worsened. ‘Temporary traffic lights — and the road being reduced to one lane because of the works to develop a wider cycle lane — kept speeds to less than 15mph,’ says Andrew.

Stewart reached the Town Hall at 8.22am, beating the car by four minutes.

Bicycle: 17 minutes, speed 12mph

Car: 21 minutes, speed 9.7mph

Return leg Town Hall to Fallowfield

Start time: 11.30am

By late morning, the gridlocked traffic in the centre of Manchester had eased. Andrew was certain that this time he would beat Stewart. For the first half of the journey back to Fallowfield, the car was much quicker.

But soon the combination of buses and roadworks — caused by the installation of new cycle lanes — meant traffic slowed to a snail’s pace.

Near the end, Stewart, on his bicycle, managed to overtake Andrew, whose BMW was once again stuck behind a queue of buses.

‘I counted 80-plus cyclists on the route during rush hour, but on the return trip, I saw only four,’ says Andrew. ‘It does seem daft that for much of the day, cycle lanes are pretty much deserted.’

Even Stewart thinks the pendulum has swung too far in favour of two wheels. ‘The wide, fast cycle lanes in Fallowfield were empty and redundant.’ Of the four cyclists he saw on the return journey, two didn’t even bother to use the cycle lane, instead favouring the main road.

Stewart arrived on his bike at 11.48am. Andrew arrived by car at 11.49am.

Bicycle: 18 minutes, speed 11.3mph