Cape Town now has the dubious distinction of being South Africa’s most congested city, snatching the title from Johannesburg, according to TomTom’s fourth annual global traffic index for 2013.

TomTom’s traffic data also showed that traffic congestion on secondary roads is worse than main roads, and commuters are spending an unbelievable average of 10 working days a year stuck in traffic. This is creating a new set of challenges for local authorities looking for solutions to the increasing traffic problem.

The data also finds that the traffic shortcuts drivers take to avoid congestion are actually ‘longcuts’, adding 50% more travel time to journeys. It also finds South Africa to be the only country in the world to experience their worst congestion on a Monday morning while the rest of the world experiences their worst congestion most often on a Tuesday morning.

“Traffic congestion is nothing new, and continues to be a global challenge. The traditional responses to congestion, such as building new roads or widening existing ones are no longer proving to be effective,” says Daan Henderickx, country manager of TomTom South Africa.

“Realtime traffic information can help drivers find the quickest shortcut on their journey and assist governments to make smarter decisions to improve traffic flow for their cities.”

The Traffic Index is the only global measurement of traffic congestion comparing travel times during non-congested hours with travel times in peak hours experienced by passenger vehicles. The Index takes into account both local roads and highways.

The top 10 most congested cities ranked by overall congestion level in 2013 were:
* Moscow – 74%;
* Istanbul – 62%;
* Rio de Janeiro – 55%;
* Mexico City – 54%;
* São Paulo – 46%;
* Palermo – 39%;
* Warsaw – 39%;
* Rome – 37%;
* Los Angeles – 36%; and
* Dublin – 35%.

South Africa has seen an increase in congestion in all of the six cities that the report monitored with Cape Town and East London’s congestion both increasing by 2%.

South Africa had a congestion level of 21% in 2013 while the individual cities were ranked as follows:
* Cape Town – 27%, ranked 33 out of 138;
* Johannesburg – 25%, ranked 48 out of 138;
* East London – 22%, ranked 65 out of 138;
* Pretoria – 22%, ranked 73 out of 138;
* Durban – 18%, ranked 98 out of 138; and
* Bloemfontein – 12%, ranked 134 out of 138.