Pedestrian 'fast lanes' trialled in two UK cities to satisfy impatient Brits

Pedestrian 'fast lanes' are being tested out in two bustling UK city centres in order to allow speedy walkers to bypass the crowds. The 50m-long and 2.2m-wide tracks have popped up in high-traffic areas of Glasgowand Leeds. Sky Broadband is trialling the specially marked lanes in busy pedestrian streets, after research showed 44 per cent of Brits support introducing fast lanes.

In Scotland's largest city, the fast lane has been painted down Buchanan Street – known for its busy shopping crowds andhurrying commuters. Meanwhile in Yorkshire, quick-footed pedestrians can stride through along Briggate, dodging shoppers and street performers.

The fast lanes are clearly signposted with bold icons and have been installed to celebrate the launch of its new Gigafast+ broadband packages, the fastest from any major provider in the UK.

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Ben Case, managing director of connectivity at Sky, said: "From slow walkers to traffic jams, delays are part of everyday life. "We're launching 'Fast Lanes' to speed up more than just broadband, helping commuters reclaim their time and keep life moving frustration-free."

This comes after a study of 3,000 adults revealed transport delays, buffering internet pages and slow walkers are among the nation's top time-consuming frustrations.

A fifth of Brits even consider themselves impatient by nature, with 27 per cent willing to wait less than three minutes before losing patience.

When it comes to online patience, Brits are running on empty, with 32 per cent confessing they can only endure a minute of waiting before irritation sets in. Public transport is another bugbear, with commuters typically losing their rag after 12 minutes of delays.

Interestingly, given that the average worker spends the same amount of time walking as part of their daily commute, 44 per cent would back the introduction of permanent pedestrian fast lanes.

When confronted with delays, many Brits will grumble under their breath while others vent their frustration by obsessively refreshing apps, yelling at their smart speakers and drumming their fingers.

Londoners consider themselves the most patient (76 per cent) compared with 66 per cent of Scots and 64 per cent of Yorkshire folk.

Women claim to be slightly more patient than men (22 per cent vs 18 per cent), while Gen X has been dubbed the least time-tolerant age group (24 per cent).

Gen Z, on the other hand, claim to keep their cool the most – with only 12 per cent describing themselves as impatient.

And this is despite experiencing the greatest number of daily delays, with four on average in a typical day. This compares with three for Millennials and Gen X, and just two for Boomers.

TOP 10 THINGS THAT FRUSTRATE IMPATIENT BRITS:

Transport delays (e.g. plane, train, bus delays)

Slow or buffering internet

Slow or bad drivers

Slow service (in any capacity)

Slow walkers

Queuing

Pedestrian traffic

Waiting for or missing a delivery

Film or TV show buffering part way through

Waiting for something to download or update