Bangalore and Manila world's worst cities for traffic

As everyone knows, driving would be much more fun if there weren't so many cars on the road. Urban areas are bad for traffic but have you ever wondered where the worst ones are?

The 2019 edition of TomTom's Traffic Index, which ranks the world's most congested cities, has all of the answers. Asia has most of the biggest scores.

At the top of the list, Bangalore, India has the most distressing conditions for motorists, who spend up to 71 per cent more time in their cars than they might on a normal journey. Manila in the Philippines is just as bad.

The Colombian capital Bogota, which had the dubious privilege of finishing first in the 2018 table, comes in third in the latest ranking. It should be noted that India has four of the 10 most congested cities in the world. TomTom also reports that the average level of congestion around the globe in 2019 was 29 per cent.

The top 10 most traffic-choked cities in the world:

1. Bangalore (India), 71 per cent
2. Manila (Philippines), 71 per cent
3. Bogota (Colombia), 68 per cent
4. Bombay (India), 65 per cent
5. Pune (India), 59 per cent
6. Moscow (Russia), 59 per cent
7. Lima (Peru), 57 per cent
8. New Delhi (India), 56 per cent
9. Istanbul (Turkey), 55 per cent
10. Jakarta (Indonesia), 53 per cent

In the US, the worst city was Los Angeles, with 42 per cent, followed by New York at 37 per cent.

The TomTom Traffic Index covered 416 cities in 57 countries. The percentages correspond to the level of congestion, i.e., the additional travel time measured for each driver on the entire network, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.