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TomTom Traffic Index 2017: Mexico City Retains Crown of ‘Most Traffic Congested City’ in World

Global Traffic Congestion at All Time High* – But Differences between Continents

AMSTERDAM — (BUSINESS WIRE) — February 20, 2017 — TomTom ( TOM2) today released the results of the TomTom Traffic Index 2017, the annual report detailing the cities around the world with the most traffic congestion. Mexico City once again takes the top spot with drivers in the Mexican capital expecting to spend an average of 66% extra travel time stuck in traffic anytime of the day (7% percentage points up on last year), and up to 101% in the evening peak periods versus a free flow, or uncongested, situation – adding up to 227** hours of extra travel time per year.

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TomTom today released the results of the TomTom Traffic Index 2017, the annual report detailing the  ...

TomTom today released the results of the TomTom Traffic Index 2017, the annual report detailing the cities around the world with the most traffic congestion. Mexico City once again takes the top spot with drivers in the Mexican capital expecting to spend an average of 66% extra travel time stuck in traffic anytime of the day. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Next in the global rankings are Bangkok (61%), Jakarta (58%), Chongqing (52%) and Bucharest (50%), making up the top five most congested cities in the world.

Ranking of the most congested cities Globally in 2016 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

1   Mexico City   66%       6   Istanbul   49%
2 Bangkok 61% 7 Chengdu 47%
3 Jakarta 58% 8 Rio de Janeiro 47%
4 Chongqing 52% 9 Tainan 46%
5 Bucharest 50% 10 Beijing 46%

Using data from 2016, the TomTom Traffic Index looks at the traffic congestion situation in 390 cities in 48 countries on six continents – from Rome to Rio, Singapore to San Francisco. TomTom works with nearly 19 trillion data points that have been accumulated over nine years. This is the sixth year of the TomTom Traffic Index.

In Europe, Bucharest (50%) knocked Moscow (44%) off last year’s top spot, with Saint Petersburg (41%), London (40%) and Marseille (40%) making up the top five.

North America’s top five most congested cities remained the same as the previous year – Mexico City (66%), Los Angeles (45%), San Francisco (39%), Vancouver (39%), New York (35%) – although congestion levels were up across the board.

Congestion Up, Globally

Looking at TomTom’s historical data, traffic congestion is up by 23% globally since 2008. But, interestingly, there are shocking differences between continents. Between 2015 and 2016, while North America’s traffic congestion has only increased by 5%, Europe’s has increased by 9%. Asia and Oceania are both up by 12%, while South America is up 7%, and Africa, by 15%. That’s a global rise of 10% on 2015.

Ralf-Peter Schaefer, VP TomTom Traffic, said: “TomTom’s mission is to transform mobility across the world, helping to create the smarter cities of the future. A big part of this transformation is to help everyday drivers to make better decisions about how they get around. This is where our expertise in traffic comes in, and it’s why we release the TomTom Traffic Index every year. It’s designed to help drivers, cities and transport planners to understand traffic congestion and, most importantly, how to reduce it.”

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. For the first time, this year, TomTom is celebrating those cities that deserve special recognition for their efforts to beat traffic congestion with the introduction of the TomTom Traffic Index awards.

Six cities have been chosen for special recognition by an international panel of traffic experts. Each expert nominated three cities and subsequently all experts voted to determine the award winning cities from the nominated cities. Winners include Moscow, Stockholm and Rio de Janeiro. The full list of winners can be found here: www.tomtom.com/trafficindex/awards.

Ranking of the most congested cities in Europe in 2016 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

1   Bucharest   50%       6   Rome   40%
2 Moscow 44% 7 Paris 38%
3 Saint-Petersburg 41% 8 Brussels 38%
4 London 40% 9 Manchester 38%
5 Marseille 40% 10 Athens 37%

Ranking of the most congested cities in North America in 2016 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

1   Mexico City   66%       6   Seattle   34%
2 Los Angeles 45% 7 San Jose 32%
3 San Francisco 39% 8 Toronto 30%
4 Vancouver 39% 9 Miami 30%
5 New York 35% 10 Portland 29%

Ranking of the most congested cities in South America in 2016 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

1   Rio de Janeiro   47%       6   Fortaleza   35%
2 Santiago 43% 7 Sao Paulo 30%
3 Buenos Aires 42% 8 Belo Horizonte 27%
4 Salvador 40% 9 Porto Alegre 25%
5 Recife 37% 10 Brasilia 20%

Ranking of the most congested cities in Asia in 2016 (Overall daily congestion level – extra travel time – population over 800,000):

1   Bangkok   61%       6   Tainan   46%
2 Jakarta 58% 7 Beijing 46%
3 Chongqing 52% 8 Changsha 45%
4 Istanbul 49% 9 Guangzhou 44%
5 Chengdu 47% 10 Shenzhen 44%

-ENDS-

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

About TomTom

TomTom empowers movement. Every day millions of people around the world depend on TomTom to make smarter decisions. We design and develop innovative products that make it easy for people to keep moving towards their goals. Our map-based components include map content, online map-based services, real-time traffic and navigation software. Our consumer products include PNDs, navigation apps and sports watches. Our main business products are custom in-dash navigation systems and a fleet management system, which is offered to fleet owners as an online service with integrated in-vehicle cellular devices. Our business consists of four customer facing business units: Automotive, Licensing, Telematics and Consumer.

Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Amsterdam, we have more than 4,700 employees worldwide. For further information, please visit www.tomtom.com



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