Mumbai most traffic congested city in world, Delhi fourth

New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) Mumbai is the most traffic congested city in the world, while Delhi is close behind at fourth position, an analysis of traffic congestion in 403 cities across six continents has revealed.

'Traffic Index-2018', compiled by leading independent location technology specialist TomTom, said that Mumbai takes the top spot for the second consecutive year with commuters spending an average of 65 per cent extra travel time stuck in traffic.

According to the rpeort, after Mumbai, next in the global rankings were Colombian capital, Bogota (63 per cent), Lima in Peru (58 per cent), New Delhi (58 per cent) and Russian capital, Moscow (56 per cent), making up the top five most congested cities in the world.

With Moscow taking the lead in Europe, Istanbul(53 per cent) came a close second with Bucharest(48 per cent) Saint Petersburg (47 per cent) and Kiev (46 per cent) making up the top five.

Brussels (37 per cent), London (37 per cent) and Paris (36 per cent) ranked in at 11th, 12th and 13th respectively.

Among North American cities, top five most congested are Mexico City (52 per cent), Los Angeles (41 per cent), Vancouver (38 per cent), New York (36 per cent) and San Francisco (34 per cent).

The report said that traffic congestion has increased globally during the last decade and nearly 75 per cent of the cities Tom Tom includes in the new Traffic Index report had increased or stable congestion levels between 2017 and 2018, with only 90 cities showing measurable decreases.

Decreases were measured in Asia with a large decrease in congestion (-8 per cent) in Jakarta while nearly every city in South America posted increases, the largest (8 per cent) taking place in Lima, Peru.

"Globally, traffic congestion is rising. And that's both good and bad news. It's good because it indicates a strong global economy, but the flip side is drivers wasting time sitting in traffic, not to mention the huge environmental impact," Ralf-Peter Schaefer, TomTom's Vice President of Traffic information said.

He said TomTom has been collecting traffic information and providing traffic services for nearly a decade, allowing drivers to make smarter choices in route planning and avoiding congestion.

"The location technology specialist's work on the future of driving -from high definition maps for autonomous vehicles, to efficient electric vehicle routing and charging -means that car makers, technology companies, road authorities and governments already have the tools to make the roads less congested," he said.