Skip to main content

Study reveals Warsaw as Europe’s most congested city

Vehicle GPS provider TomTom is revealing details of a study into traffic congestion it had carried out across Europe. This quarterly Congestion Index involves studies of 31 major European cities with populations of over 800,000. According to the study, Poland’s capital Warsaw suffers the worst traffic congestion of any European city. For the UK, the Leeds-Bradford are has come out as the most congested area. Drivers in the Yorkshire conurbation spend an average 86hours/year stuck in traffic jams according t
July 12, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Vehicle GPS provider 3972 TomTom is revealing details of a study into traffic congestion it had carried out across Europe. This quarterly Congestion Index involves studies of 31 major European cities with populations of over 800,000. According to the study, Poland’s capital Warsaw suffers the worst traffic congestion of any European city. For the UK, the Leeds-Bradford are has come out as the most congested area. Drivers in the Yorkshire conurbation spend an average 86hours/year stuck in traffic jams according to the study. The Index is based on real travel time data captured by vehicles driving the entire European road network and compiled from five trillion anonymous data measurements on TomTom's servers.

Drivers in the Leeds-Bradford area endure journey times up to 63% longer than normal in morning peak periods and 60% longer in the evening rush-hour. Overall, congestion in the Leeds-Bradford area slows journey times down by an average of 28%. By comparison in UK capital London traffic jams delay journeys by an average of 27% and up to 50% in the evening rush-hour, while drivers spend an average 74 hours/year stuck in traffic jams. The two Yorkshire areas have suffered a 5% increase in congestion since 2011, the biggest of anywhere in Europe. Drivers there face a delay of 36 minutes for every hour they drive in peak periods. Leeds-Bradford is now seventh in a table of most traffic clogged cities across Europe, up from 19th in 2011.

Drivers in Birmingham spend an average 73 hours/year stuck in traffic jams. Traffic in the West Midlands city is delayed by an average of 21% because of congestion with delays of up to 28 minutes/hour during peak periods. Birmingham has risen from 23rd in the TomTom congestion ranking last year to 19th in 2012. The worst days for congestion are Tuesday and Thursday in Leeds-Bradford and Birmingham, while Mondays and Thursdays are worst in London.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Ile-de-France regions sets out highway spending until 2020
    February 6, 2015
    The Isle de France region, essentially the Paris area and extensive surrounding countryside, will spend around €365 million on road infrastructure as part of a five-year transportation plan from this year up to 2020. The overall plan calls for an investment of of €7.3 billion, of which €2.9 billion will come from the central government and €4.4 billion from the Isle de France region. Around EUR €4.5 billion will be used to finance public transport, according to a report by Le Moniteur des Travaux Publics
  • UK announces details of major road building programme
    December 1, 2014
    Details of a major programme of road building projects have been unveiled by the UK Government. The plan envisages some €18.83 billion (£15 billion) being spent on constructing new road links and upgrading existing routes. This is the largest single programme of works for the UK’s road network for several decades. The plan includes 100 major projects, perhaps the most notable being the long-awaited tunnel for the A303 past the Stonehenge archeological site. The existing route is narrow at this point and suf
  • Trafficnow and Isbak win Istanbul contract
    May 13, 2013
    Trafficnow and Isbak are working together to provide 250 DeepBlue Sensors in Turkey’s commercial centre Istanbul. These units will be installed along all the major corridors and access points of the city and the deal also includes the DeepBlue Core centralised system. This award is of note and could help make a major contribution to taming Istanbul’s notoriously congested streets. Split between Asia and Europe, Istanbul has some 2.6 million vehicles on its road network of 25,000km as well as a population of
  • Indian construction equipment event in Mumbai
    August 7, 2012
    The organisers of the bC India 2013 construction equipment exhibition report strong bookings for the event, which is scheduled for 5th-8th February 2013 in Mumbai. The second edition of this event, it is expected to host 700 exhibitors and attract over 30,000 visitors. The show will occupy 130,000m2 of exhibition space at the Bandra Kurla Complex, an increase from the 88,000m2 occupied during the last fair.