City travels are back to pre-Covid levels, says 20223 Global Traffic Scorecard by INRIX, and new traffic patterns are emerging. As the number of people working from remote is still high, in most European and US cities the traditional morning and afternoon peaks are replaced by a more distributed, but continuous congestion throughout the day. This makes travel planning more difficult, and also affects other mobility systems, specifically public transportation.
Measuring the number of hours lost in traffic, INRIX calculated New York City, Mexico City, London, Paris and Chicago are the top 5 most congested cities in the world.
Data are quite astonishing. 78% of the urban areas studied globally saw increased traffic delays in 2023. Last year the typical US driver lost 42 hours in traffic — the equivalent of a full work week — that resulted in $733 worth of time lost. Congestion cost the US more than 70 billion dollars in 2023, a 15% increase from 2022.
If you are driving in the UK, London might give you a hard time. In 2023 Londeners lost 99 hours sitting in congestion, three percent above pre-pandemic delays and two percent more than 2022. The total cost to London was 3.8 billion pounds, that means an average of over 900 pounds per driver.
Traffic is rising even in fast-developing African countries. According to independent reports, Lagos in Nigeria experiences the worst traffic in Africa, followed by Nairobi in Kenya, Cairo in Egypt, Pretoria and Cape Town in South Africa.
It’s hard to predict if the current patterns of urban mobility will consolidate in the medium and long term. But it’s clear that congestion has come back as a serious issue for city managers, as it worsens overall livability and quality of life, and has a direct negative impact on air pollution and carbon footprint.
Cities ingreasingly look for new ways to manage congestion and accelerate the shift towards sustainable mobility systems: Smart Parking is an effective, easy-to-implement solution to save lots of mileage, fuel, and stress for residents and visitors.