Let’s face it, everyone thinks their town has the worst traffic (and drivers) in the Universe. When you’re stuck smack dab in the middle of a morning commute, it’s easy to look around you in disgust and think that no one else in the world could possibly have it as bad as you. The fact is, if you live in the United States, you’ve got things pretty good (with one notable exception). Don’t take our word for it. Every year, GPS company TomTom produces an exhaustive report of the world’s most congested traffic cities, places were the travel time can be more than fifty percent longer than necessary based purely on the number of drivers crammed into the roads. The next time you’re stuck in traffic, just try to remember that at the very least, you’re not in one of the towns on this list.
20. Kaohsiung
Taiwan’s Kaohsiung is murder on its citizens. Traffic in the city averages an extra 36 extra minutes of travel time a day. On Friday evenings, in particular, drivers can expect to spend an extra 70 percent travel time in the car.
19. Buenos Aires
Argentina’s capital city, Buenos Aires, sports almost 35,000 miles of road. Unfortunately, it’s extremely clogged with slow-moving traffic that adds an average of 40 minutes extra drive time per day.
18. Shijiazhuang
One of China’s larger cities is in the midst of a traffic epidemic and it’s only getting worse. Over the last year, traffic in Shijiazhuang has gone from 36 percent extra travel time to 42 percent extra travel time.
17. Santiago de Chile
Chile’s capital city is a nightmare to navigate in the evenings, when travelers spend 88 percent more travel time behind the wheel. The average driver in Santiago spends an average of 187 hours a year stuck in traffic.
16. Hangzhou
At peak times, drivers in Hangzhou spend more than 60 percent extra time trying to get from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’. Even at low volumes, you can expect to spend an average of 43 percent extra travel time.
15. Shenzen
Another testament to China’s incredible population, residents of Shenzhen have seen a seven percent increase in extra travel time over the last year. In the evenings, there’s an expected 84 percent increase in drive time.
14. Guangzhou
Visitors and residents of Guangzhou can tack on an extra 43 minutes a day just sitting in traffic. What’s more, things tend to get more and more crowded as the week moves on, with Friday’s being an extremely hectic time to travel in the city.
13. Moscow
Russia’s most famous city ranks fairly high on the TomTom Traffic Index, but it might not be that way much longer. In 2016, Moscow won TomTom’s Parking Award. Thanks to recent changes to pricing and enforcement of parking within the city, Moscow has seen the time spent searching for a parking spot drop by 65 percent.
12. Los Angeles
The sole American entrant on the list, Los Angelenos add an extra 170 hours of every year in traffic and at least 44 minutes every day.
11. Changsha
Whether it’s day or night, you’re going to spend some time sitting around when you drive in Changsha. In the mornings, the extra commute time adds about seventy percent extra travel time and in the evenings, the commute is 84 percent longer than necessary.
10. Beijing
Beijing’s traffic problem got worse by a full eight percent in the last year. Drive time is so bad that whether its residents are traveling on highways or residential roads, they can expect an extra 40 percent extra drive time.
9. Tainan
Though it’s only about 14,000 square miles (compared to the United States’ 3.7 square miles) Taiwan is still home to more than 23 million people. As a result, traffic freaking sucks; In Tainan, residents incur nearly 46 percent extra travel time on average.
8. Rio de Janeiro
If you’re ever visiting Brazil’s liveliest town, don’t expect to get anywhere fast. At best, drivers can hope to encounter a mere 37 percent extra drive time when they’re on the highways (at non-peak hours).
7. Chengdu
For real, something needs to be done about China’s traffic problem, because Chengdu STILL isn’t the country’s last entry on the list. Maybe there’s a reason the country has a loosely enforced “one kid per household” rule. Anyway, in Chengdu, drivers spend an average of 176 hours more than necessary stuck in traffic.
6. Istanbul
You might think Istanbul is Turkey’s capital (because you likely only know one city in Turkey, at best, and that’s Istanbul). However, that honor goes to Ankara. Istanbul is, however, the most populous (and popular) city in the country, which means that at certain times of the day, drivers can spend as much as 91 percent extra travel time in the car.
5. Bucharest
Romania’s capital city clocks in at a clean 50 percent average extra travel time for each of its citizens. Though the city has less than 2 million people, the morning and evening commutes are a real trial. During peak hours, drivers spend as much as 90 percent extra time in the car.
4. Chongqing
Chongqing really made a point of ruining its citizen’s commute in 2016. The Chinese city’s traffic problem increased 14 percent over the last twelve months, a metric that is way higher than any other city on this list.
3. Jakarta
A new entry on TomTom’s Traffic Index in 2016, Indonesia’s capital city is home to nearly ten million people and more than 26,000 miles of road. Unfortunately, it takes nearly twice as long as it should to get from one place to another in the city, thanks to the average 48 minutes of extra travel time citizens endure each day.
2. Bangkok
The traffic in Bangkok is so bad that people trying to get home or go out in the evenings can expect to face a drive time that’s more than one hundred eighteen percent longer than necessary.
1. Mexico City
Ah, Mexico City, the reigning champ of terrible traffic. The city’s congestion is so bad that last year, when it forced on its drivers an extra 59 percent travel time on average, that was enough to take home the gold by a large margin. And the traffic problem still got worse in 2016! Drivers now must endure an average 66 percent travel time, no matter what time of day they’re on the road. And if you have to head into traffic during rush hour, your best bet is to say a prayer and leave really, really early.
