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Late for work? Worst traffic in SA revealed

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<b>MOTHER CITY TRAFFIC JAMS:</b> Cape Town retains the title of most congested city in SA according to TomTom’s annual global traffic index. <i>Image: Wheels24/Marcel Trout</i>
<b>MOTHER CITY TRAFFIC JAMS:</b> Cape Town retains the title of most congested city in SA according to TomTom’s annual global traffic index. <i>Image: Wheels24/Marcel Trout</i>
Marcel Trout

CAPE TOWN - Satnav specialist TomTom released its annual Traffic Index highlighting the affect of traffic congestion in over 200 cities.

According to TomTom, the global trend reveals evening rush hour is the most congested time of day with bottlenecks nearly doubling travel times. In 2014, TomTom claims that the average commuter spent an extra 100 hours a year travelling during rush hour.

Just how bad is the daily commute in South Africa's cities?

MOST CONGESTED CITIES

Cape Town, with a global ranking of 55, remains the country's most congested city with a congestion level of 29%, meaning travel time is increased by an average of 29% during heavy traffic.

Johannesburg is ranked 77th globally and second locally with a congestion level of 29%

Interestingly, Jozi drivers have a better morning travel time with drivers adding an extra 59% to commuting time compared to the Cape's 72%. Evening travel in Cape Town has the worst congestion level, with 58% added to travel time compared to Johannesburg road users' 54%.

Pretoria is third with 24%, followed by East London (23%) and Durban (19%). Road users in Bloemfontein experience 13% congestion.

TomTom’s Traffic Index compares travel times during non-congested hours with travel times in peak hours experienced by passenger vehicles. The report takes into account both local roads and highways and measures over 95 000kms of roadways in South Africa.

The most congested day in traffic in Gauteng was Feb 3 2014, which saw the province ravaged by adverse weather conditions including floods.

11 DAYS PER YEAR IN TRAFFIC...

According to TomTom: "South Africa is unique in its position, all major cities statistics showcase the morning commute as the most congested for our big cities, Monday morning being the worst."

"The congestion level increased everywhere with the congestion levels on non-highways still being remarkably higher than on highways, resulting in commuters spending up to 11 days per year sitting in traffic."

Click here to find out how the rest of the world compares

Overall ranking of most congested South African cities in 2014: Average of morning and evening congestion


Overall ranking of most congested cities in 2014:


Click here to view the full index

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