The road to an easier commute lies in the spread

Why Joburg and Cape Town rank among the world’s most traffic-congested cities

IT has always been assumed that traffic congestion in Johannesburg is a major drain on time and therefore on productivity. Now there is proof.

The TomTom South African Traffic Index, released this week, shows that Johannesburg is the most congested city in South Africa and the 20th most congested in the world.

Cape Town ranks only 46th in overall congestion, but shoots up to third place during the morning rush hour.

TomTom uses data generated automatically by millions of users of its global positioning system mapping devices in vehicles to create real-life maps of driving patterns by time of day, day of week and time of year.

The data is then converted into an index, which ranks 169 major cities in the world.

“Over the years, we have built the world’s largest database of historic travel times,” said the company.

Congestion is measured according to the percentage increase in time it takes to complete a journey compared with making the journey during non-congested, “free-flow” traffic.

Johannesburg leads the way in South Africa in average congestion throughout the day at 31% — up from 29% for the same period last year. This means a journey that normally takes about half an hour will take about 40 minutes.

Cape Town is not far behind Johannesburg in average congestion at 27%. It has increased from 24% a year ago. During morning rush hour it shoots up to an astonishing 92%.

This puts it behind only Moscow and Rio de Janeiro for the worst morning peak traffic in the world. Johannesburg’s morning peak congestion level is 79%. The evening peak drops to 73%.

Moscow leads the world for the worst average traffic congestion at 67%, followed by Istanbul and Rio.

“What it actually means is that, at 31% in Johannesburg, at any time of day congestion will add about 10 minutes to what would have been a 30-minute trip,” said Daan Henderickx, TomTom South Africa’s country manager.

“Johannesburg’s morning peak congestion level of 79% and evening peak of 73% means you need to add 45 minutes to a trip that would normally last an hour. Cape Town’s morning peak of 92% congestion almost doubles the travel time.”

The causes of congestion are not as obvious as the general assumption that it is a result of more cars on the road. That would not explain why a city like Cape Town is less congested than Johannesburg for much of the day and then shoots past it at a particular time.

“It’s very hard to find the reasons,” said Henderickx. “There are many contributing factors, recurring and non-recurring. The recurring ones are insufficient road capacity, the ineffective management of road capacity and a lack of alternative means of access. Non-recurring are incidental, like traffic accidents or roadworks.”

The latest index is the sixth quarterly report since South Africa was included in the analysis at the beginning of 2012.

It shows that every major urban area of South Africa has experienced an

The easiest solution is to spread out traffic across available routes

increase in traffic congestion in the past year with the exception of the East Rand south, which includes Boksburg, Benoni, Brakpan and Springs, where it dropped from 22% to 18%.

The data are not just a useful tool for motorists, but could be a boon for authorities in traffic and road management.

“We can see where we have the challenges and where we can look for solutions,” said Henderickx.

“We have a very good snapshot of where there is congestion, as well as where there is free available capacity.

“The easiest solution is to spread out traffic across available routes. Instead, we are only using a few main roads. If we can divert traffic via those alternatives, we will improve traffic for everyone.”

The data have been offered to authorities in South Africa, but there have been no takers so far.