Istanbul second most congested city in the world

ISTANBUL

Istanbul has emerged as the second most congested city in the world, according to a new traffic report by transportation analytics firm INRIX.

With drivers losing an average of 157 hours (6.5 days) in peak rush hour periods in 2018, Istanbul is among the second most congested cities worldwide among a total of 220 cities, INRIX’s Global Traffic Scorecard said.

Traffic jam in Istanbul increased by six percent compared to 2017, the report stated.

Russia’s capital Moscow dominated the list by holding its place from 2017 as the world’s most-traffic-congested city.

Moscow had the worst traffic jams of any capital city in Europe with peak congestion of 210 hours in 2018, the report said.

Following Moscow and Istanbul, the top five countries tackling with traffic jam includes Colombian capital Bogota, Mexico’s capital Mexico City and Brazil’s most populous metropolis Sao Paolo, respectively.

INRIX annually analyzes per capita time spent in traffic jam by calculating parameters such as the average speed and time passed to travel one mile (around 1.6 kilometers) to the city’s business centers during rush-hour.

Moreover, number of hours lost in traffic during rush hour compared to free-flowing periods also contributed to the determination of rankings.