Cork among the most traffic congested cities in the world, study finds 

Cork is one of the most traffic congested cities in the world, a global study by sat-nav company TomTom has found.

Overall, Cork is the 38th most congested city globally — higher than many major cities such as London, Toronto, and Rome.

The picture does not improve as far as Dublin is concerned, which is ranked as the 10th most traffic congested city. 

Mexico City tops the list as the most congested city in the world, followed by Bangkok at number two. 

“Whether you are in a bus or in a car, people are definitely losing hours in traffic,” Labour Party councillor Peter Horgan told The Echo.

“What the hours are depends on what metrics and what routes you are doing. 

“If you are driving from Carrigaline into the city centre, you are going to be doing savage traffic numbers. 

“I think what the TomToms of the world do is that they highlight an issue that we are already advocating for action on. 

“It probably paints a certain picture.

“But I don’t think we need to drill down any further to say we need a more accurate picture. Everyone knows you are losing your own time when you are stuck in traffic.”

Mr Horgan also said that radical transport investment is needed to curtail lost commuting hours and to reduce congestion in Cork.

Featuring 500 cities across 62 countries, the 14th edition of the TomTom Traffic Index is their most robust and complete analysis ever. In the study, Cork has a congestion level of 41%. 

This is the average additional time (in percentage) that is lost to traffic in 2024, compared to driving in free flow conditions.