Based on the 2019 Traffic Index of location technology company TomTom released on Wednesday, Manila has the second-worst traffic congestion out of 416 cities in seven countries.
Traffic congestion in 2019 was at 71 percent, which means that a trip took 71 percent more time than expected during baseline uncongested conditions.
The baseline per city is calculated by analyzing free-flow travel times of all vehicles on the entire road network, which is recorded for 24 hours, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.
Filipinos, according to the index, lost 10 days and 17 hours in 2019 to rush hour traffic, with 29 minutes added for every 30-minute trip in the morning and 38 minutes added in the evening.
In 2019, the worst rush hour in Manila was between 6 and 7 p.m. on Friday, with congestion worsening to 143 percent during this time.
Meanwhile, traffic congestion exceeded 100 percent between 6 and 7 p.m. from Monday to Thursday.
The company added that taking a trip after 7 p.m. could actually save motorists about five hours per year for a 30-minute commute.
The world’s most traffic-congested city is Bengaluru in India while Bogota in Colombia is in third place.
