Warsaw Most Congested City in Europe - TomTom Launches Quarterly Congestion Index to Identify and Address Congestion Hot Spots across Europe

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TomTom today launches the first quarterly Congestion Index that accurately identifies and analyses traffic congestion in major cities across Europe. The report, initially covering 31 cities, finds Warsaw the most congested city in Europe. On average, journey times in Warsaw are 42% longer than when traffic in the city is flowing freely and 89% longer during morning rush hour. The TomTom Congestion Index, including individual city reports, can be found at www.tomtom.com/congestionindex.

The TomTom Congestion Index is the world’s most accurate barometer of congestion in urban areas. The Index is uniquely based on real travel time data captured by vehicles driving the entire road network. TomTom’s traffic database contains over five trillion data measurements and is growing by five billion measurements every day. The overall congestion level for all the cities analysed in Europe is 24% - meaning journey times take 24% longer than when traffic is flowing freely.

The top ten most congested cities, ranked by overall congestion level, between January and March 2012 were:

1. Warsaw, 42% congestion level	6. Dublin, 30%
2. Marseille, 41%	7. Bradford – Leeds, 28%
3. Rome, 34%	8. London, 27%
4. Brussels, 34%	9. Stockholm, 27%
5. Paris, 32%	10. Hamburg, 27%

“Over the years, with the help of our customers, we have built the largest and most accurate database of travel times in the world,” said Harold Goddijn;

Chief Executive Officer of TomTom. “When we combine this travel database with our detailed real-time traffic information and routing technology, we can not only pin point congestion, but can guide drivers away from congested areas onto faster routes.”

“Even when only a percentage of drivers use a different and faster route, the available capacity on the entire road network increases, which benefits all drivers,” Goddijn added.

TomTom’s Congestion Index also compares congestion levels between January and March 2012 with the same period in 2011. Based on this analysis, Bradford – Leeds in the UK saw the biggest increase in traffic congestion with journey times slowing significantly. Munich, Berlin, Marseille and Vienna all saw increased levels of congestion. Lisbon, Bern, Amsterdam, Milan and Rome all experienced a reduction in congestion levels.

Notes to Editor

About the TomTom Congestion Index

The methodology used in the Congestion Index compares travel times during non-congested periods (free flow) with travel times in peak hours. The difference is expressed as a percentage increase in travel time. The Index takes into account local roads, arterials, as well as highways. All data is based on actual GPS based measurements.

A comparison is made for the travel times during the quarter and this is compared with the same period a year ago.

As well as assigning and ranking the overall congestion levels of over 31 European cities, the report analyses the congestion levels in cities at different times of the day and on different days of the week. TomTom analysed capital cities as well as cities with a population of over 800,000.

Individual city reports include more detailed information such as the most congested day, average free flow speed, time delay per year for commuters and congestion levels on main and secondary roads.

A separate North American Congestion Index report is also available.

To download the European or North American Congestion Index report go to www.tomtom.com/congestionindex .

Results Summary

Rank	City	Country	Overall Congestion level (%)	Morning peak (%)	Evening peak (%)	Average speed (km/h)
1	Warsaw	Poland	42	89	86	54
2	Marseille	France	41	79	81	45
3	Rome	Italy	34	76	66	54
4	Brussels	Belgium	34	82	86	47
5	Paris	France	32	72	63	48
6	Dublin	Ireland	30	70	63	51
7	Bradford-Leeds	UK	28	63	60	53
8	London	UK	27	48	50	51
9	Stockholm	Sweden	27	65	62	49
10	Hamburg	Germany	27	49	42	51
11	Cologne	Germany	26	54	47	52
12	Milan	Italy	26	71	53	50
13	Berlin	Germany	26	42	44	50
14	Vienna	Austria	24	42	43	48
15	Oslo	Norway	24	66	70	50
16	Naples	Italy	24	34	43	45
17	Turin	Italy	23	50	42	51
18	Munich	Germany	23	50	36	54
19	Birmingham	UK	21	51	43	57
20	Luxemburg	Luxemburg	21	51	47	55
21	Barcelona	Spain	21	49	39	54
22	Lisbon	Portugal	20	41	49	56
23	Helsinki	Finland	20	43	43	57
24	Prague	Czech republic	20	46	41	53
25	Ruhe region west	Germany	17	38	28	51
26	Copenhagen	Denmark	16	42	29	57
27	Madrid	Spain	16	41	33	67
28	Ruhr Region East	Germany	15	31	28	51
29	Amsterdam	Netherlands	15	33	31	55
30	Valencia	Spain	14	21	21	59
31	Bern	Switzerland	8	19	31	48

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About TomTom

Founded in 1991, TomTom (AEX:TOM2) is the world’s leading supplier of in-car location and navigation products and services focused on providing all drivers with the world’s best navigation experience. Headquartered in Amsterdam, TomTom has over 3,500 employees and sells its products in over 40 countries.

Our products include portable navigation devices, in-dash infotainment systems, fleet management solutions, maps and real-time services, including the award winning TomTom HD Traffic.

For the world’s most up-to-date route planner, including live traffic information go to www.tomtom.com/livetraffic

For further information, please visit www.tomtom.com