The map above was taken from a tweet by Ben Southwood on X/Twitter.
It shows a rather stunning fact.
Despite having the reputation as being a slow and bureaucratic country, France has built 2,700 miles (4,300 km) of new motorway – more than the entire UK motorway (highway) network put together since 1990.
The UK is now ranked twenty-fourth in the world for roads, behind many other developed countries.
France has 7,383 miles (11,882 km) of motorways versus only around 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometres) in the UK.
And as noted by Ben:
None of this has cost the French government a centime – private companies fronted the capital, and those driving pay for them through tolls. And their top speed limit is 11mph [18 kph] higher!
All of this comes from the must read Foundations: Why Britain has stagnated report by Ben Southwood, Samuel Hughes and Sam Bowman.
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