Traffic sucks in Cape Town while Joburg scores for doing something to ease motorists' pain

The most congested cities for traffic in South Africa are Cape Town‚ followed by Johannesburg‚ then East London‚ Pretoria and Durban.

This is according to the TomTom Traffic Index 2017‚ the annual report detailing the cities around the world with the most traffic congestion.

In a study of 390 cities around the world‚ Johannesburg – South Africa’s most densely populated city – has stood out for its implementation of effective traffic management systems across the city‚ earning special recognition from an international panel of traffic experts.

• Here's why Johannesburg won international nod for traffic improvementsJohannesburg has won the TomTom Traffic Index award for Traffic Management. The city has a total road network of 41‚754km‚ of which 603km are highways. 

“Infrastructure development is a major contributing factor‚” Megan Bruwer‚ Project Coordinator for the Stellenbosch Smart Mobility Laboratory‚ said in a statement. “The Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project‚ Open Road Tolling and numerous ITS applications implemented along freeway corridors have also had a positive impact on traffic congestion‚ not to mention the establishment of the Gautrain.”

Congestion level and extra time travelled. Source: Tom Tom

Johannesburg's traffic congestion rating on the Index is in 70th place globally‚ with Cape Town positioned in 48th place.

Despite its traffic improvement plans‚ Joburg has experienced a 3% increase in traffic congestion since 2015 and currently sits at a congestion level of 30%.

Traffic congestion has also worsened in Cape Town by 5%‚ to a new average level of 35%.

Globally‚ cities that are experiencing the worst traffic congestion as per the Index include Mexico City (66%)‚ Bangkok (61%)‚ Jakarta (58%)‚ Chongqing (52%) and Bucharest (50%)‚ making up the top five most congested cities in the world.

In Europe‚ Bucharest (50%) knocked Moscow (44%) off last year’s top spot‚ with Saint Petersburg (41%)‚ London (40%) and Marseille (40%) making up the top five.

North America’s top five most congested cities remained the same as the previous year – Mexico City (66%)‚ Los Angeles (45%)‚ San Francisco (39%)‚ Vancouver (39%)‚ New York (35%) – although congestion levels were up across the board.

Looking at TomTom’s historical data‚ traffic congestion is up by 23% globally since 2008 and 10% on 2015.

On the web: See where your city ranks here.