Global Traffic Index: UAE’s 2 main cities compare well; Mumbai takes Crown of ‘Most Traffic Congested City’ in World

TomTom, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Partner of RoadSafetyUAE released the results of the TomTom Traffic Index, a report detailing the traffic situation in 403 cities in 56 countries around the world. Mumbai takes the top spot this year with drivers in the Indian city expecting to spend an average of 65% extra travel time stuck in traffic. Next in the global rankings are Colombian capital, Bogota (63%), Lima in Peru (58%), New Delhi in India (58%) and Russian Capital, Moscow (56%), making up the top five most congested cities in the world.

Congestion Up, Globally

Traffic congestion has increased globally during the last decade, and nearly 75% of the cities TomTom includes in the new Traffic Index report had increased or stable congestion levels between 2017 and 2018, with only 90 cities showing measurable decreases.

Ralf-Peter Schäfer, TomTom’s VP of Traffic information, said: “Globally, traffic congestion is rising. And that’s both good, and bad, news. It’s good because it indicates a strong global economy, but the flip side is drivers wasting time sitting in traffic, not to mention the huge environmental impact.”

Schäfer continues: “At TomTom, we’re working towards a future where vehicles are electric, shared and autonomous so that our future really is free of congestion and emissions. We have the technology to make this future happen – but it takes a collaborative effort. From road authorities, to governments; car makers to car drivers, we all have a part to play.”

People can find out more about the TomTom Traffic Index, and discover where their home city ranks athttp://www.tomtom.com/traffic-index. There’s also helpful advice on beating traffic congestion. The Traffic Index website has been revamped so it is easier than ever to explore city statistics and insights – as well as real-time, live traffic information.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai, UAE

The 2 main UAE cities Abu Dhabi and Dubai have been included in the survey. Abu Dhabi ranks 396 with a congestion level of 11% extra travel time stuck in traffic (unchanged vs. 2017). Dubai ranks 202 with a congestion level of 23% (with a positive trend -4% vs. 2017).

Details for Abu Dhabi:

Congestion level highways: 4% extra travel time stuck in traffic and non-highways: 14%.

Congestion level morning travel peak: 19% and evening travel peak: 18%

Details for Dubai:

Congestion level highways: 18% and non-highways: 28%.

Congestion level morning travel peak: 34% and evening travel peak: 48%

Thomas Edelmann, Managing Director of RoadSafetyUAE comments: “In order to further improve road safety in the UAE we need a better understanding via better data. TomTom sets a great example by including the 2 main UAE cities in their global survey. Traffic congestion is of key importance for road safety, because when motorists get caught in congestions, we see a lot of impolite and dangerous behavior. From our own studies we observe, that UAE’s motorists give a lot of credit to the UAE authorities for continuously improving the road infrastructure. Traffic congestion adds costs to economies via lost working hours, it adds inconvenience to drivers via extra travel time and it should be avoided from a road safety perspective. It is great to see the 2 main UAE cities to fare pretty well on a global level.”