London, the capital of the United Kingdom, was officially named the slowest city to navigate through in 2023, according to a report by Amsterdam-based location specialist. During rush hour, the average driving speed in London was a mere 14 kmph.
TomTom (TOM2), the Netherlands-based geolocation technology company last month unveiled its latest report which offered insights into traffic trends across 387 cities in 55 countries throughout 2023. The traffic index is based on data from over 600 million in-car navigation systems and smartphones. For each city (both the city center and the wider metropolitan area), TomTom calculates the average travel time per kilometer from the time it took to cover the millions of kilometers driven across the entire network in the year 2023.
Two Indian cities in the top 10
TomTom’s analysis involved calculating the average travel time per kilometer for each city based on the extensive data gathered from millions of kilometers covered across their road networks in 2023. Joining the ranks of cities with the worst traffic, two Indian cities, Bengaluru and Pune, also featured prominently in TomTom’s findings. Bengaluru secured the sixth spot on the list, with an average travel time of 28 minutes and 10 seconds for every 10 kilometers.
Meanwhile, Pune claimed the seventh position, with a recorded travel time of 27 minutes and 50 seconds for the same distance. The report highlighted that September 27 was the worst day for travel in Bengaluru, with an average travel time of 32 minutes for a 10-kilometer journey. Pune faced its peak congestion on September 8, requiring approximately 34 minutes to cover the same distance.
Decline in average speeds
The trend over 2023 confirms the general decline in average speeds in most cities: of the 387 cities analysed in the traffic index, 82 saw their average speed remain unchanged, and 77 had a higher average speed (and therefore shorter journey times) than the previous year. In the remaining 228 cities, average speeds decreased. In London and Dublin, the two cities with the lowest average speed, travel times for a 6-mile journey increased by +1 minute compared to 2022 – only 7 cities in the world have reached a 1 minute or higher raise in average travel time for a 6-mile trip.
Cost of petrol and fuel consumption
The increase in both the cost of petrol and fuel consumption, due to longer journey times, has a clear impact on the budget of motorists who have to use their car every day to get to work. In more than 60% of 351 cities where TomTom aggregates fuel prices, the average budget in fuel increased by 15% or more between 2021 and 2023. This increase in consumption naturally has a direct impact on average CO2 emissions per vehicle.
“With more than half of the world’s population living in urban areas, traffic congestion and its economic, ecological and health consequences have become a problem that needs to be urgently addressed”, said Ralf-Peter Schäfer, Vice President of Traffic at TomTom. “Planning the future of urban areas is essential to ongoing traffic management. Large urban areas are harnessing Big Data to plan infrastructure and development that will alleviate traffic congestion.”
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