In 2020, the Moscow urban agglomeration became the world leader in road congestion. The rating of cities with the largest traffic jams was presented by the Dutch company TomTom, which produces navigation systems and maps. Since 2019, the company has been using a new settlement system, and the traffic situation is analyzed not only in the capital of Russia, but also in part of the Moscow region. In 2019, Moscow took the sixth place in the ranking. At the same time, the overall level of congestion in the metropolitan agglomeration in 2020 decreased from 59% to 54% in comparison with a year earlier. Highway congestion has dropped by 5%. TomTom notes that, on average, every Moscow driver spends 200 hours in traffic jams a year.
The highest traffic congestion in the capital (97%) was observed on Friday, 25 December. The smallest number of traffic jams (8%) was recorded in April 2020. Then, restrictive measures were introduced in Moscow and the region due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The compilers of the rating explain the high rate of traffic congestion in Moscow last year by the high rate of recovery of the city after quarantine.
The second place in the ranking is occupied by Indian Mumbai with a transport load of 53%. The same congestion in 2020 was in Bogota and Manila. Among Russian cities, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg and Samara are in the top 20 of the rating. In 2018, Moscow was already ranked first in terms of road congestion according to the research company Inrix.
Author: Anna Dorozhkina