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

  • China's economic growth fuelling vehicle increase
    February 21, 2012
    China is at a turning point in many ways. The country's continuing economic growth is fuelling a massive increase in vehicle numbers, with no signs of slackening. This is most acute and most visible in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, where traffic jams are now a frequent occurrence
  • China's economic growth fuelling vehicle increase
    March 14, 2012
    China is at a turning point in many ways. The country's continuing economic growth is fuelling a massive increase in vehicle numbers, with no signs of slackening. This is most acute and most visible in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, where traffic jams are now a frequent occurrence. One recent Beijing tailback stretched nearly 100km along a major highway and was caused by roadworks at a particularly busy stretch of the road.
  • New guidelines to improve highway emergency response
    July 6, 2012
    New guidelines have been introduced to improve how the Highways Agency (HA) and emergency services work together. Under the guidelines, part of a Government strategy to reduce the US$1.5billion (£1bn) cost of motorway incidents, the police, fire and ambulance services and the HA have signed up to the CLEAR booklet - drawn up by Agency to tackle congestion caused by lane closures. Launched last year by Roads Minister Mike Penning, The CLEAR (Collision, Lead, Evaluate, Act, Reopen) initiative aims to get tra
  • Nairobi revives city decongestion plan
    March 18, 2016
    Nairobi is looking to tackle its congestion problems - Shem Oirere writes. Authorities in Kenya’s capital Nairobi have revived plans to convert some of the streets in the city into one way roads to deal with chronic traffic congestion that consumes fuel worth millions of shillings and wastes several manhours in traffic jams. Nairobi County governor Dr Evans Kidero said the plan, which is to take effect by the end of December 2015, will affect Moi Avenue, Koinange Street, Tom Mboya Street, River Road and Kir