The Average Chinese Motorist Loses 9 Days a Year Stuck in Traffic

The company has been creating an annual traffic jam index for several years now, but it has just released the results of the same survey for China for the first time. Given all of the horror stories we have heard about pollution caused by the country's cars, congestion was about as bad as you might expect. The researchers found motorists there spend an average of nine working days per year sitting in gridlock.

Looking at the just-compiled 2013 data, China's worst city for traffic, according to TomTom, is Tianjin (pictured above) with 56 percent average congestion. According to the company's metric that meant that the average travel time increased by 56 percent compared to a journey with no traffic delay. That figure skyrocketed to 95 percent during the evening peak, nearly doubling the duration spent on the road. The other two top cities were Hangzhou and Beijing with average gridlock of 47 percent and 43 percent, respectively.

To compare, in TomTom's survey of North and South America with 2013 data, Los Angeles was considered the most congested city in the United States. It had average traffic levels of 36 percent and a peak of 75 percent during evening rush hour. However, that would only put it on par with China's 11th ranking city – Shenyang.

Chinese cities have seriously tried to curb their congestion, but it hasn't seemed to help much. Shanghai, ranked seventh on the list, has considered congestion charges, and Beijing has tried both the fees and restricting vehicle registrations. According to TomTom, people from rural parts of China continue to stream into the cities to find jobs, and each one puts a further stress on the country's road network