New Delhi Among Cities With Worst Traffic Conditions

Thursday, 01 July, 2010


New Delhi, the capital of India, has been adjudged among the worst cities as far as adverse traffic conditions are concerned. Ranked 5th among 20 cities from the world over, Delhi's traffic system was termed as having gone worse in the past few years, with unpleasant impact on the health and productivity of the Delhiites.

The news comes at a very crucial juncture for the Delhi government, which is busy planning the city for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, 2010, to begin in October. With the city set to receive thousands of foreign tourists along with athletes, the 81 out of 100 score in IBM's "Commuter Pain Study," does not bode well either for the administration or the people of Delhi.

The score as well as the ranking reflects the Delhi administration's "failure to keep the transportation infrastructure at pace with economic activity."

The study, which was carried out in 20 cities of the world, involved interviews of about 8,192 vehicle drivers and the majority opined that the daily commute between home and office was becoming a "longer and more grueling" task for them than it was earlier.

Apart from Delhi, Beijing and Mexico City scored 99 out of 100 each, making them the top two cities in the world to face disastrous traffic jams. Cities like Johannesburg and Moscow complete the top 5 slots in the table with a score of 97 and 84, respectively.

Further down, the IBM study ranks the Brazilian city of Sao Paolo as 6th, Italian city of Milan as 7th, Argentinian capital Buenos Aires as 8th, the Spanish capital of Madrid as 9th and London as 10th.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Swedish capital Stockholm scored a lowly 15 out of 100 and was adjudged the best city for commuters while cities like Melbourne and Houston were also acknowledged for having the "most pain-free roadway traffic."

Meanwhile, 40 percent of Delhiites, who were surveyed by IBM, said that they would have been able to work better and to their capacity if only their commute from home to work was reduced or made comfortable, at least.

In general, 65 per cent of the surveyed motorists said that driving not only made them stressed but also angry and affected their sleep time.

The overall perception was that the worse traffic conditions were impacting the public's performance at work and at home.

Original news source http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7019164443#ixzz0sVU0ijT2