Cape Town has the most traffic congestion – index

Navigation company TomTom has published its fourth annual global traffic index for 2014, showing that Cape Town is now ranked as the most congested city in South Africa.

The Mother City, with a global traffic congestion rate of 27%, overtakes Johannesburg at 25%, which topped the list in the 2013 report. South Africa has an overall congestion level of 21%, the report said. East London takes the third spot, followed by Pretoria, Durban and Bloemfontein.

The index uses road traffic data collected from TomTom users around the globe, which is analysed to draw conclusions about the traffic situation in large cities.
It showed that congestion on secondary roads is worse than main roads in South Africa and that commuters are spending an average of 10 working days a year stuck in traffic. The traditional responses to congestion, such as building new roads or widening existing ones, are no longer proving to be effective, TomTom said.

“This is creating a new set of challenges for local authorities looking for solutions to the increasing traffic problem,” the location and navigation products and services provider said. It also turns out that shortcuts drivers take to avoid congestion are actually “longcuts”, according to TomTom, adding 50% more travel time to journeys.

South Africa is also the only country in the world measured by TomTom to experience its worst congestion on a Monday morning whereas most of the world experiences the worst congestion on a Tuesday morning.
Moscow topped the global list, followed by Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro.