Canada’s traffic congested cities: time and money

TomTom-the personal GPS manufacturer-has released its fifth annual traffic index which covers some 218 cities in 36 around the world.

Istanbul ranks the highest, i.e. having the most congestion.

Canada’s west coast port city of Vancouver comes in at 20^th most congested.

Canada’s biggest city, Toronto, ^, which is also the most densely populated in the surrounding area, ranks 47^th.  This  ranking may surprise many Toronto and area commuters who can spend hours in massive traffic jams many kilometres long,  while the much smaller national capital, Ottawa comes in at 58.  Montreal, the second largest city in Canada ranks 75^th.

The rankings use the GPS devices to measure how long it takes commuters to travel a route during rush hour, compared to the time of the trip when there is no traffic,

77 Hours stuck in traffic

The report says overall in Canada, traffic congestion has increased by 2%.

While that figure may not mean much, one that does is that the  average auto commuter is losing 77 hours stuck in traffic.

However, another way of measuring traffic congestion is done by Inrex, which measures the time taken for mobile phone signals to move between cell towers.

This ranking shows Belgium as the most congested country, followed by the UK, Netherlands, and Italy with Canada fifth. While the most congested city in Canada is listed as Montreal as the most congested Canadian city placing a surprisingly high 9^th in the world. Toronto is placed 26^th, and Vancouver 62^nd.

Meanwhile, business has long said there is a cost to traffic delays.

The Toronto Board of Trade back in 2011 said traffic infrastructure underfunding is creating traffic congestion problems that cost the region $6 billion annually.