Hours
Hours Wasted Wasted in Change in Hours
2013 2012 in Traffic Traffic Wasted from
Rank Rank Country in 2013 in 2012 2012 to 2013
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1 1 Belgium 58 58 no change
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2 2 Netherlands 44 51 -7
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3 4 Germany 35 36 1
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4 3 France 35 37 -2
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5 6 Luxembourg 31 28 3
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6 5 United Kingdom 30 29 1
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7 10 Italy 24 21 3
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8 9 Switzerland 25 22 3
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9 7 Austria 22 25 -3
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10 11 Ireland 20 19 1
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11 8 Spain 17 25 -8
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12 12 Hungary 9 15 -6
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13 13 Portugal 6 11 -5
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The situation in mainland Europe in 2013
INRIX analysed data from 13 European countries and the congestion landscape generally aligned closely with each country's economic outlook. Those nations struggling with high unemployment and low or negative growth in 2013 typically recorded lower traffic congestion than in 2012. Spain and Portugal are both examples of this trend: in 2013 Spain's economy contracted by 1.2%[4] and Portugal recorded record unemployment.
The data shows a marked difference from 2012 where all of the European countries saw decreases in congestion. In 2013, five nations recorded increases in congestion according to the INRIX Index: the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Italy. The Swiss[5] and British economies both grew by 1.9% in 2013. Although full-year figures have not been released for Ireland and Luxembourg, estimates state that Ireland is expected to grow by 1.3%[6] and Luxembourg by 1.9%[7] in 2013. The general trend is that the countries showing increased congestion have a positive economic outlook, while those economies still struggling are seeing falling congestion.
"So goes traffic, so goes the economy," said Bryan Mistele, president and CEO, INRIX. "While bad news for drivers, increases in traffic congestion in Europe are signs of a slowly recovering economy."
The Scorecard analysed traffic in major metropolitan areas across Europe, providing a comprehensive snapshot into the intractable issues of urban traffic congestion. No Spanish cities entered into the top 25, with Spain's busiest city Bilbao only registering as 59th most congested European city. According to the report, the top 25 most congested cities in Europe and annual average hours wasted in traffic are:
Annual
Hours Change in
2013 Wasted Hours from
Rank 2012 Rank Metropolitan area in 2013 2012
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1 1 Brussels 83 0
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2 3 London commute zone 82 9
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3 2 Antwerp 78 1
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4 4 Rotterdam 63 -8
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5 5 Stuttgart 60 -5
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6 9 Cologne 56 -2
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7 13 Milan 56 5
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8 6 Paris 55 -8
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9 10 Ghent 54 1
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10 15 Karlsruhe 53 5
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11 8 Amsterdam 50 -9
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12 11 's Gravenhage 49 -3
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13 14 Dusseldorf 49 -2
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14 12 Hamburg 48 -3
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15 7 Utrecht 48 -13
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16 19 Gr. Manchester 46 1
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17 18 Munich 44 -0
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18 17 Lyon 44 -3
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19 22 Grenoble 42 1
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20 20 Charleroi 41 -1
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21 16 Bordeaux 41 -5
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22 23 Ruhrgebiet 40 0
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23 21 Toulouse 39 -1
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24 24 Merseyside 39 2
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25 25 S. Nottinghamshire 39 3
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The INRIX Index represents the barometer of congestion intensity. For a road segment with no congestion, the INRIX Index would be zero. Each additional point in the INRIX Index represents a percentage point increase in the average travel time of a commute above free-flow conditions during peak hours. An INRIX Index of 30, for example, indicates a 20-minute free-flow trip will take 26 minutes during the peak travel time periods with a 6-minute (30 percent) increase over free-flow.
For more information
For a full picture of the data collected in the 2013 Annual INRIX Traffic Scorecard, please visit inrix.scorecard.com [http://www.inrix.scorecard.com/].
About the INRIX Traffic Scorecard
The INRIX Traffic Scorecard measures the traffic congestion problem by going beyond traditional limitations of road sensors and statistical sampling techniques by analysing an historical archive of real-time data crowd-sourced from actual vehicles travelling on major metropolitan roadways.
INRIX analyses trillions of real-time data points from over a hundred sources including crowd-sourced data from a variety of commercial vehicles, including taxis, airport shuttles, service delivery vans, long haul trucks as well as consumer vehicles and mobile devices. Each data report from these GPS-equipped vehicles and devices includes the speed, location and heading of a particular vehicle at a reported date and time. In creating the INRIX Traffic Scorecard, INRIX analyses information for more than one million kilometres of motorways and secondary roads in Europe and nearly two million miles of roads in North America during every hour of the day to generate the most comprehensive and timely congestion analyses to date, covering the largest metropolitan areas in 15 countries.
(CONTINUA)
Andalucía
Aragón
Cantabria
Castilla-La Mancha
Castilla y León
Catalunya
Extremadura
Galicia
Islas Canarias
Islas Baleares
Madrid
País Vasco
La Rioja
C. Valenciana
Navarra
Asturias
Murcia
Ceuta y Melilla
