Moscow is world’s most gridlocked city, says Inrix

Moscow is the most gridlocked city in the world, according to a survey of snarl-ups by Inrix. The company’s annual Global Traffic Scorecard found that road users in the Russian capital lost 210 hours last year because of congestion. Inrix weights the data for population, and found that the next four cities on the congestion roll-call were Istanbul, Turkey; Bogota, Colombia; Mexico City; and São Paulo, Brazil. Brazil had another entry on this unwanted list, with Rio de Janeiro in seventh place. Russ
February 21, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Moscow is the most gridlocked city in the world, according to a survey of snarl-ups by 163 Inrix.


The company’s annual Global Traffic Scorecard found that road users in the Russian capital lost 210 hours last year because of congestion.

Inrix weights the data for population, and found that the next four cities on the congestion roll-call were Istanbul, Turkey; Bogota, Colombia; Mexico City; and São Paulo, Brazil.

Brazil had another entry on this unwanted list, with Rio de Janeiro in seventh place. Russia’s St Petersburg came in ninth.

“The dominance of Latin American cities should not be a surprise due to their rapid urbanisation, high levels of informal settlements, unforgiving topographies and financial volatility,” Inrix suggests.

The top 10 was completed by London, UK (sixth); Boston, US (eighth); and Italian capital Rome (tenth).

Although not featuring in the top 10, Dublin, Ireland received its own dubious accolade: it has the slowest city centre speeds in the world, Inrix says, with an average of just 6mph during peak hours. This means it would almost be quicker to walk at certain times, and certainly makes cycling look like an attractive option for commuters.

Edinburgh and London tied for the title of UK’s slowest city, with last-mile speeds of 7mph.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Venkat Sumantran: ‘Smart cities are more hype than reality’
    November 23, 2018
    For all the talk of smart cities, investment in systems lags significantly behind organic expansion in most places. Andrew Stone talks to Venkat Sumantran, who has been looking at how to create a coherent framework which could help authorities answer multiple mobility questions Two megatrends are posing unprecedented challenges to those trying to keep people moving around the world’s urban areas now - and in the years and decades to come. The first is rapid urbanisation. One in six of us lived in urban a
    Read More
  • Congestion could cost Australian cities $40bn by 2030, says minister
    September 11, 2019
    Australian state capitals are paying $25 billion per year on avoidable congestion - and could end up paying $40bn by 2030 unless there is a policy change. That is the stark warning from Alan Tudge, federal minister of population, cities and urban infrastructure, who spoke at Australia’s seventh ITS Summit. Discussing how ITS technologies can help solve gridlock, he described some of the projects which fall under the Australian government’s $100bn programme of transport infrastructure expenditure – suc
    Read More
  • Kapsch TrafficCom: 'The city is not made for cars'
    October 22, 2018
    Traffic can be a really big challenge. When you’re stuck, you’re stuck. Everything comes to a standstill. But Alexander Lewald describes how existing infrastructures can be used more efficiently and how demand can be managed. A few figures to start with: in Los Angeles, the average driver spends 102 hours a year in traffic – that’s more than four days. This figure is 91 hours in Moscow and New York, 74 in London, 69 in Paris, 51 hours in Munich and still 40 hours in Vienna. Traffic is what causes
    Read More
  • Maintaining momentum: learning lessons from the London Olympics
    November 15, 2013
    Japan will not only host this year’s ITS World Congress but has been selected for the 2020 Olympics. So what can Japan, and indeed Brazil, learn from the traffic management for London 2012 - Geoff Hadwick finds out. It was a key moment when Olympic boss Jacques Rogge signed off London 2012, calling the Games “happy and glorious.” Scarred by the logistical disaster of Atlanta 1996 and the last-minute building panic for Athens 2008, Rogge clearly thought London 2012 was an object lesson in how to plan and
    Read More

Highlighted Content