Manila among top 10 cities with worst traffic in the world —report

February 17, 2023 - 5:56 PM
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Senator Nancy captured a photo that showed she was stuck in traffic while driving along the skyway on November 12, 2022. (Twitter/Nancy Binay)

Manila ranked high in the traffic index that measured traffic congestion in 389 cities in 56 countries. 

On average, it took 27 minutes for Filipinos to travel ten kilometers in Metro Manila, based on the 2022 findings of the TomTom Traffic Index

Given this travel time, Manila ranked 2nd with the worst traffic congestion, based on the metro area category.

The metro area category measured traffic in the entire region. It covers the nearby city and rural areas.

The average speed during rush hour in the metro area was 21 km/h. 

In terms of city center traffic, Manila placed ninth globally. This ranking measures a circle with a radius of 5 km covering the busiest parts of the city.

The report also showed that annually, Filipinos lose 103 hours or around four days on the road due to traffic congestion. 

The worst rush hour in the Philippines, according to the traffic index is from 5 to 6 p.m. every Friday.

Traffic congestion also contributes to the carbon footprint. 

The study revealed that out of the 1,047 kilograms of carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles annually, 289 kilograms of which were caused by traffic congestion. 

Japan International Cooperation Agency has reported that the daily economic cost of traffic congestion in Metro Manila is P3.5 billion. This is expected to rise to P5.4 billion per day by 2035. 

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TomTom Traffic Index report is based on trip data which includes travel time and speed, spanning 543 billion (109) km anonymously collected.