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

  • UK’s most congested routes
    June 4, 2019
    Drivers using the M6 motorway in the UK are in the unlucky situation of facing the worst congestion in the country. The latest official data reveals the M6 to suffer more congestion than any other route in the UK, taking over this unfavourable record from the M25 motorway running around London. The M6 is the UK’s longest motorway and runs from Rugby to Gretna in Scotland. The data shows that drivers using the route will face delays to some 210 million journeys when the current three year period of roadwork
    Read More
  • Commuters switching from cars to motorcycles will cut congestion
    June 20, 2014
    A study carried out by research company Transport and Mobility in Belgian capital Brussels shows that if more drivers switch from cars to motorcycles, congestion will be reduced significantly. The study investigated the effects of increasing the percentage of motorcycles to traffic flow using a stretch of road used by commuters driving into Brussels, which is one of Europe’s most congested cities. The research team evaluated traffic flow as well as air quality. Using sensors placed along the route, and meas
    Read More
  • Risk warnings for UK revealed with new data
    May 9, 2013
    New data from the UK reveals key information about road risk factors both across the country and in capital London. A new report reveals that around 68% of pedestrian casualties are adults who are at greatest risk on weekend evenings and after consuming alcohol. Meanwhile another separate study in London reveals that cyclists are not at fault in most crashes in which they are involved.
    Read More
  • Growing US congestion problems will get worse according to study
    April 30, 2012
    The economic recession has only provided a temporary respite from the growing congestion problem, according to Texas Transportation Institute 2011 Urban Mobility Report.While traffic problems have stagnated in the US along with the economy, the annual study suggests that too little progress is being made toward ensuring that the nation's transportation system will be able to keep up with job growth when the economy does return.
    Read More

Highlighted Content