Skip to main content

Urban traffic congestion

Moscow suffers the worst congestion of any city in Europe, with drivers spending an average 56% of their time being stuck in traffic. Istanbul meanwhile comes close behind, with drivers spending an additional 53% of their time being stuck in traffic. Bucharest suffers the third worst traffic congestion in Europe, with Saint Petersburg in the fourth spot. The data has been gathered by the TomTom Traffic Index, which has collated information on 403 cities around the world. By the end of April 2019, Istanbul h
June 6, 2019 Read time: 1 min
Istanbul’s vehicle population continues to grow and its traffic jams are notorious

Moscow suffers the worst congestion of any city in Europe, with drivers spending an average 56% of their time being stuck in traffic. Istanbul meanwhile comes close behind, with drivers spending an additional 53% of their time being stuck in traffic. Bucharest suffers the third worst traffic congestion in Europe, with Saint Petersburg in the fourth spot. The data has been gathered by the 3972 TomTom Traffic Index, which has collated information on 403 cities around the world. By the end of April 2019, Istanbul had a vehicle population of 4.18 million and was ranked sixth worldwide for overall congestion, with Mumbai having the unenviable position of being the world’s worst for traffic jams.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Poor pedestrian safety record
    March 25, 2021
    The US has a poor pedestrian safety record.
  • Increased infrastructure spending
    February 22, 2012
    With economies booming in the BRIC countries and other regions, spending on infrastructure is at a high - Patrick Smith reports As economic crisis grips much of the world, many countries are still spending billions on infrastructure to improve transportation. While the USA and Europe struggle with debt problems (and this has affected much of the rest of the world) the development of highways, airport, ports and other infrastructure is gathering pace in other regions to boost economic developments.
  • Managing traffic demand is crucial
    June 25, 2012
    Congestion charging can be an effective measure to aid traffic management in major cities. As vehicle use continues to grow worldwide, and fastest of all in developing nations, the problem of congestion is becoming worse in many cities. The mega cities of the developing world suffer particularly in this regard, with infrastructure unable to cope with current traffic volumes, let alone anticipated vehicle numbers for even the near future.
  • Reducing congestion while maximising safety in road construction work zones
    April 30, 2015
    Mike Dreznes, executive vice president at the International Road Federation (IRF) discusses road safety for work zone areas. Work zones around the world can create significant congestion and can cost society billions of dollars. Estimates in the United States alone include approximately 87,600 work zone crashes involving 37,500 injuries that result in 482 million lost hours, valued at approximately US$6.5 billion. When considering these numbers worldwide, it becomes clear that work zone safety and work zone