Manila Ranks 2nd Worst Traffic Congestion in the World

As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, Manila just took second place as the most traffic congested city in the world. Location technology specialist TomTom released the ninth edition of their annual Traffic Index, a report that lays out the traffic situation in 416 cities across 57 countries. Bengaluru, India took the top spot for 2019 with an average of 71% extra travel time spent being stuck in traffic. Manila also got the same 71% congestion level. The congestion level pertains to how much extra time accumulates during a trip compared to the city’s uncongested traffic conditions. Bogota, Colombia (3^rd), Mumbai, India (4^th), and Pune, India (5^th) completes the top 5. The report suggests that a majority of motorists or commuters spend an additional 257 hours over the whole year while driving during peak hours. That’s almost 11 days lost to idle time while stuck in traffic. That time could have been spent planting 258 trees, knitting 64 hats or 12 sweaters, cooked 7,431 pancakes or baked 12,365 cookies, or watched 227 episodes of Game of Thrones, according to the Traffic Index.   The report also gave some tips based on statistics on how to spend less time in your commute. Based on their charts, the heaviest traffic happens during 6 pm. They suggest that if you avoid the 6 pm rush and go home at 7 pm, for example, you could have a less congested drive. The most congested time is during 6 pm on a Friday, when everyone is off work and can’t wait to get home. The Traffic Index suggests that travelling after 7pm on Friday could save you up to five hours each year for a 30 minute commute.   You can see and track live traffic updates here.  

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