Auckland is still New Zealand’s most traffic congested city - TomTom

Location technology specialist, TomTom (TOM2), today released the results of its TomTom Traffic Index, a report detailing the traffic situation in 416 cities and 57 countries around the world in 2019. Auckland took the top spot in New Zealand as the most congested city with drivers expecting to spend an average of 31% extra travel time stuck in traffic, worsening by 2% compared to the previous year result of 29%. This works out to be an additional 9 minutes for a 30 minutes trip. Wellington takes the 2nd place with a congestion level of 28%, followed by Hamilton (25%), Christchurch (21%), Tauranga (20%) and Dunedin (20%)

Globally Bengaluru takes the top spot with drivers in the Indian city expecting to spend an average of 71% extra travel time stuck in traffic. Next in the global rankings are Manila, in the Philippines (71%), and Bogota in Colombia (68%) topping out the list of the three most congested cities in the world (See attached global ranking table for more detail).

Key findings:

- Auckland is the second most traffic congested city in Oceania, just behind Sydney (33%)

- Globally Auckland is the 105th most congested city

- All the measured cities (6 cities) in New Zealand experienced an increase in traffic congestion, with Hamilton having the biggest increase of 3%, and the rest of the cities have a 1% increase in traffic congestion from the previous year. Christchurch is the only city that has their traffic congestion remaining unchanged.

- Commuters experienced the same peak hours in all the measured cities - 8am-9am and 5pm- 6pm are the worst time to be on the road. Aucklanders experienced up to 72% more travel time on a Tuesday morning, and 84% extra travel time stuck in traffic on a Thursday afternoon. This adds an extra 25 minutes to a 30 minute trip when they travel in this peak afternoon hour.

- This high level of congestion on Tuesday morning (8am-9am) and Thursday afternoon (5pm- 6pm) puts Auckland congestion ahead of the most congested city in the world, Bengaluru (average congestion of 71%)

- On average, Aucklanders experienced an average of 65% extra travel time during the morning rush, and a whopping 75% extra travel time during the evening rush. This rush hour congestion is worse than a Sydney commuter would experience during their rush hours (Sydney has a 63% congestion during the morning rush and 58% congestion in the evening rush hours).

- Auckland traffic congestion is also higher than the global average congestion level of 29%.

Traffic congestion has increased globally during the last decade, and the 239 cities (57%) TomTom included in the new Traffic Index report had increased congestion levels between 2018 and 2019, with only 63 cities (15%) showing measurable decreases.

Phil Allen, TomTom’s VP Sales Asia Pacific, said: "Globally, there’s a long road to travel until congestion levels are brought under control. In time, the rise of autonomous vehicles and car-sharing services will help alleviate congestion, but planners and policymakers can’t afford to sit and wait. They need to use all the tools available to them to analyse traffic levels and impacts, so they can make critical infrastructure decisions. And drivers have a role to play too. Small changes in driving behaviours can make a huge difference."

Analyzing real-time incidents and congestion to predict traffic before it happens, TomTom’s Real-Time Traffic make TomTom navigation software more accurate with enhanced route calculations and accurate estimated times of arrival (ETA). That’s why TomTom is the market leader, with its traffic technology in millions of cars on the road around the world. TomTom Traffic knows the road ahead, saving time, fuel and stress for drivers, fleet and logistics providers, on-demand services (ride hailing, food delivery), and traffic management services.

And the location technology specialist’s work on the future of driving - from high definition maps for autonomous vehicles, to efficient electric vehicle routing and charging - means that car makers, technology companies, road authorities and governments already have the tools to make the roads less congested.

People can find out more about the TomTom Traffic Index, and discover where their home city ranks at tomtom.com/TrafficIndex. There’s also helpful advice on beating traffic congestion.

How do you beat traffic congestion?

Next time you are heading into traffic, consider these helpful tips:

1. Plan before you go. Taking a few moments before heading out the door to inform yourself on the road conditions on the way to your destination will help you consider your alternatives and decide on the best course of action.

2. Trust technology to help you. It may be uncomfortable to take the road less traveled simply because your satnav suggests it’s the fastest one. Often, if you cannot see that a road is indeed congested, it is hard to believe it. Dare to take the alternative route offered by up-to-date navigation, because it is basing its recommendation on real-time traffic conditions on the route you are taking.

3. Change your driving habits. Most often, traffic will peak at certain times of the day, depending on location. This is clear in each of the city pages in the TomTom Traffic Index report, where we provide the average congestion level for each hour of each day of the week. Use the information available to adjust your departure time accordingly. Leaving early or late from a location might mean avoiding time spent in traffic on the road.

4. Consider alternatives. Does your trip have to be made by car? If your planned activity is time-sensitive and you cannot change your departure times, consider ride-sharing, public transport or non-motorised options such as cycling or scooters.

5. Work with your city. Ultimately, improving mobility in our cities is a collaborative effort. Together, city authorities, vehicle manufacturers, traffic signal system providers, parking facilities, traffic information providers, shared mobility providers, startups and, most importantly, the public, are experimenting and transforming cities worldwide. Inform yourself of the initiatives taking place in your area and how you can benefit from them.

Ranking of the most congested cities Globally - (Overall daily congestion level - extra travel time):

1 Bengaluru, India 71% 6 Moscow, Russia 59%

2 Manila, Philippines 71% 7 Lima, Peru 57%

3 Bogota, Colombia 68% 8 New Delhi, India 56%

4 Mumbai, India 65% 9 Istanbul, Turkey 55%

5 Pune, India 59% 10 Jakarta, Indonesia 53%

Ranking of the most congested cities in New Zealand (Overall daily congestion level - extra travel time - all population sizes):

1 Auckland 31% 4 Christchurch 21%

2 Wellington 28% 5 Tauranga 20%

3 Hamilton 25% 6 Dunedin 20%

Ranking of the most congested cities in Australia (Overall daily congestion level - extra travel time - all population sizes):

1 Sydney 33% 6 Hobart 23%

2 Melbourne 30% 7 Perth 20%

3 Brisbane 25% 8 Newcastle 20%

4 Adelaide 24% 9 Canberra 17%

5 Gold Coast 24% 10 Wollongong 13%

Ranking of the most congested cities in Asia - (Overall daily congestion level - extra travel time):

1 Bengaluru, India 71% 6 Jakarta, Indonesia 53%

2 Manila, Philippines 71% 7 Bangkok, Thailand 53%

3 Mumbai, India 65% 8 Tel Aviv, Israel 46%

4 Pune, India 59% 9 Tokyo, Japan 42%

5 New Delhi, India 56% 10 Chongqing, China 41%

Ranking of the most congested cities in United States of America- (Overall daily congestion level - extra travel time):

1 Los Angeles, USA 42% 6 Miami, USA 31%

2 New York, USA 37% 7 Washington, USA 29%

3 San Francisco, USA 36% 8 Chicago, USA 28%

4 San Jose, USA 33% 9 Honolulu, USA 28%

5 Seattle, USA 31% 10 Austin, USA 27%

Ranking of the most congested cities in South America- (Overall daily congestion level - extra travel time):

1 Bogota, Colombia 68% 6 Santiago, Chile 44%

2 Lima, Peru 57% 7 Salvador, Brazil 43%

3 Recife, Brazil 50% 8 Fortaleza, Brazil 37%

4 Rio De Janeiro 46% 9 Belo Horizonte, Brazil 35%

5 Sao Paolo 45% 10 Porto Alegre, Brazil 35%

Ranking of the most congested cities in Europe- (Overall daily congestion level - extra travel time):

1 Moscow, Russia 59% 6 Dublin, Ireland 48%

2 Istanbul, Turkey 55% 7 Odessa, Ukraine 47%

3 Kiev, Ukraine 53% 8 Novosibirsk, Russia 45%

4 Bucharest, Romania 52% 9 Samara, Russia 44%

5 Saint Petersburg 49% 10 Kharkiv, Ukraine 43%

Ranking of the most congested cities in Africa (Overall daily congestion level - extra travel time - all population sizes):

1 Cairo, Egypt 40% 6 Durban, S. Africa 19%

2 Cape Town, S. Africa 32% 7 Bloemfontein, S. Africa 13%

3 Johannesburg, S. Africa 30%

4 Pretoria, S. Africa 25%

5 East London, S. Africa 22%

-of cities with a population of more than 800,000 Cities with the equivalent percentages to another’s are ranked with numbers after decimal points