Manila is world’s second most traffic-congested city — index

Manila has the second-worst traffic congestion out of 416 cities across seven countries, according to the 2019 Traffic Index of location technology company TomTom released on Wednesday.

The index showed traffic congestion in Manila last year was at 71 percent. This means that a trip took 71 percent more time than it would during Manila’s baseline uncongested conditions.

“We calculate the baseline per city by analyzing free-flow travel times of all vehicles on the entire road network—recorded 24/7, 365 days a year,” the company explained.

The report also said that Filipinos lost 10 days and 17 hours in 2019 to rush hour traffic, with 29 minutes added for every 30-minute trip in the morning and 38 minutes added in the evening.

Last year, the worst rush hour in Manila was every 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, with congestion rising up to 143 percent during this period.

Traffic congestion also exceeded 100 percent every 6 to 7 p.m. from Monday to Thursday.

“Travelling after 7 p.m. on Friday could save you up to five hours per year (for a 30-minute commute),” TomTom added.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru, India was the world’s most traffic-congested city in 2019 while Bogota, Colombia ranked third.

A similar study by the Asian Development Bank earlier found that Metro Manila is the most congested city in developing Asia.

Across the 278 cities, the average citywide congestion was 1.24, which means that on average 24% more time is needed to travel during peak hours than off-peak hours.

Metro Manila’s congestion was around 1.5, the highest among the 24 largest cities in the region.

This means commuting or traveling in Metro Manila requires longer time to get from origin to destination. It was followed by Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia with a congestion index of 1.4 and by Yangoon City in Myanmar with an index of 1.38. — BAP, GMA News