Kiwi city reality bumper to bumper

Auckland and Christchurch are among the five most congested cities in Australasia, according to research from SatNavmakers TomTom.

In a study of more than 161 cities across the world, an index of nine Australian and New Zealand cities showed Auckland is ranked as the third mostcongested, with New Zealanders spending up to 92 hours a year caught in peak hour traffic. Sydney and Perth held the top two spots. Christchurch ranked fifth, below Melbourne, and Wellington eighth.

Overall, New Zealand was given a congestion level rating of 27 per cent – a figure taken from comparing travel times during non-congested periods, with travel times in peak hours.

According to the report, Aucklanders lose an average of 40 minutes for each hour driven during rush times.

The worst times to travel in Auckland are Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon, with congestion rising to more than 78 per cent compared to nonpeak times. Commuters travelling in peak-hour traffic have the best run on either a Friday morning or a Monday evening, when congestion levels are lower, at 65 per cent.

The most congested day in Christchurch was June 6 last year, when heavy snow blanketed the region.

TomTom Asia Pacific vice-president Chris Kearney said it was hoped the information would help governments and authorities across the world make more informed decisions about traffic congestion issues.

The index is based on real-time data captured by vehicles driving TomTom’s entire road network.

Its traffic database contains more than 6 trillion data measurements and increased by 5 billion measurements every day.

No New Zealand cities made the top 10 list for most congested in the world.

Moscow, Istanbul and Warsaw were the top three most-congested cities, while Sydney was the only southern hemisphere city to make the list, at No 7.