People living in Johannesburg already know this, they live in the most traffic congested area in South Africa.
This was confirmed by TomTom, the makers of satellite navigation, which have released a Congested Index (CI) of the worst traffic in the country. Johannesburg, not all that surprisingly, managed to grab the dubious honour of the top spot.
The average Congested Index, which TomTom defines as the percentage of extra time road users will be on the road itself at a given period, for Johannesburg is 30, translating into the average road trip taking 30% longer than it should. This may not sound that bad but Jozi’s morning peak congestion clocks in with an Index of 79 (79% longer than usual) and the evening peak manages a 66. The only category where Johannesburg is beaten is with weekend congestion, with second place city Cape Town’s CI of 14 beating out Jozi by one point.
Cape Town has an average of 26 (78 morning peak, 59 evening peak) on TomTom’s Congestion Index while fourth placed Pretoria averages 24 (54 morning peak, 50 evening peak). Durban, in sixth place, has an average CI of 18, hitting 47 and 40 on the scale in the mornings and evenings respectively.
