Mumbai has been ranked the world’s fourth most congested city by the TomTom Traffic Index for 2019. The city’s congestion level was at 65%, the second highest in the country after Bengaluru (71%), which was the highest in the world. The congestion level for the city has remained unchanged since 2018.
The report said Mumbaikars, while driving during peak hours, spent an extra eight days and 17 hours in traffic annually. The city saw its heaviest congestion (101%) on September 9, 2019, while the lowest congestion (19%) was recorded on March 21. The index looked at 416 cities across 57 countries. In addition to Mumbai and Bengaluru, Pune and Delhi also featured in the top 10 congested cities in the world in the fifth and eight positions.
The report said 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Fridays were the worst time slots to travel by road. A 30-minute commute after 8 p.m. on Friday could cost a person up to four hours per year, it said.
On an average, Mumbaikars spent an additional 24 minutes in the morning and an additional 31 minutes in the evening for a journey that should ideally be completed in 30 minutes. The congestion was at 57% on highways and at 72% on non-highways in the city.
Pune’s congestion level stood at 59%, with people spending an extra 193 hours, eight days and an hour in traffic each year while driving during peak hours. Pune’s heaviest congestion (93%) was recorded on August 2, 2019, while its lowest (30%) was recorded on October 27.
