TomTom Traffic Index 2016 – The Results Are In!  Mexico City Takes Crown of ‘Most Traffic Congested City’ in World from Istanbul

TomTom (TOM2) today released the results of the TomTom Traffic Index 2016, the annual report detailing the cities around the world with the most traffic congestion. And the big news this year is that Istanbul has been knocked off the top spot by Mexico City. Drivers in the Mexican capital can expect to spend on average, 59% extra travel time stuck in traffic anytime of the day, and up to 103% in the evening peak periods versus a free flow, or uncongested, situation – adding-up to 219** hours of extra travel time per year.

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Top 10 congested cities globally (Graphic: Business Wire)

Next in the rankings are Bangkok (57%), Istanbul (50%), Rio de Janeiro (47%), and Moscow (44%), making up the top five most congested cities in the world.

Using data from 2015, the TomTom Traffic Index looks at the traffic congestion situation in 295 cities in 38 countries on six continents – from Rome to Rio, Singapore to San Francisco. TomTom works with 14 trillion data points that have been accumulated over eight years. This is the fifth year of the TomTom Traffic Index.

Congestion Up, Globally

Looking at TomTom’s historical data, it’s clear that traffic congestion is up by 13% globally since 2008. But, interestingly, there are shocking differences between continents. While North America’s traffic congestion has increased by 17%, Europe as has only increased by 2%. It could be suggested that this points to economic growth in North America, and Economic depression in the rest of Europe. This European figure could be heavily influenced by Southern European countries such as Italy (-7%) and Spain (-13%) where there has been a marked drop in traffic congestion in the past eight years.

Ralf-Peter Schaefer, VP TomTom Traffic, said: "The TomTom Traffic Index is released every year to help drivers, cities and transport planners to understand traffic congestion trends but, most importantly, how to improve congestion globally. We really want everybody to think about how they can lower the amount of time they waste in traffic every day – and to realise that we all need to play a part. If even just five per cent of us changed our travel plans, we’d improve travel times on our major highways by up to thirty per cent***. Collectively, we can all work together to beat traffic congestion.”

People can find out more about the TomTom Traffic Index, and discover where their home city ranks at www.tomtom.com/trafficindex. There’s also helpful advice on beating traffic congestion, as well as independent analysis. And, for the first time, a selection of ‘Profile Cities’ provide insight into what they are doing to improve mobility.

Ranking of the most congested cities globally in 2015 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

Ranking of the most congested cities in Europe in 2015 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

Ranking of the most congested cities in North America in 2015 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

Notes to editors

*Since 2008 when TomTom’s records started

** Extra travel time during peak hours compared to an hour of driving during free flow conditions, multiplied by 230 working days per year

*** Reference: https://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/methods/highwaysfd.html

What does TomTom do to beat congestion?

Road authorities and local governments can use TomTom’s traffic data to better manage traffic flow during the rush hour. We can help businesses plan smarter working hours to help their employees avoid travelling during rush hour. And we give drivers the real-time traffic information and smart routing they need to avoid congested roads and get to where they want to be, faster.

How does TomTom calculate congestion level?

Put simply, the Congestion Level percentage is the extra travel time a driver will experience when compared to an uncongested situation. To illustrate, an overall congestion level of 36% means that an average trip made takes 36% longer than it would under uncongested conditions.

About TomTom

At TomTom (TOM2) our mission is to make technology so easy to use, that everyone can benefit from it. We created easy to use navigation devices, helping millions of people to get where they want to be.

Today, we continue to simplify the complex, making technology more accessible for everyone.

We have four customer facing business units: Consumer, Telematics, Automotive and Licensing. We make easy to use navigation devices, sport watches and action cameras for consumers. We enable businesses with vehicles to more easily manage and improve fleet efficiency whilst increasing overall business performance with our Telematics solutions. We also offer a world leading real-time map platform that is powering innovative location based services and helping to make automated driving a reality for the automotive industry. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Amsterdam, we have over 4,600 employees and sell our products worldwide.

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