Cape Town, renowned for its natural beauty and vibrant culture, grapples with one of the world’s most challenging urban dilemmas: traffic congestion, Cape {town} Etc reports.
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The Mother City has been identified as one of the top cities globally for traffic congestion, ranking 9th out of 100 urban areas in the 2023 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard.
According to Cape Business News, INRIX measures congestion by calculating the Impact Rank, which quantifies the hours lost during peak commute times compared to off-peak periods relative to a city’s population.
Cape Town’s Impact Rank fell from 13th in 2022 to 9th in 2023, with drivers spending 83 extra hours in traffic– a 32% increase. Although congestion is 10% lower than pre-COVID-19 levels, INRIX noted a 7% rise in early 2024.
Cape Town, with a population of 4.6 million, ranks ahead of Jakarta (10th place) with 10.5 million people.
Among cities with comparable populations, only Boston (8th place, 4.4 million) ranks higher than Cape Town on the scorecard.
INRIX isn’t the only traffic ranking that rates Cape Town poorly for congestion.
According to the 2023 TomTom Traffic Index, Cape Town ranks second in Africa for congestion after Cairo, Egypt.
TomTom measures congestion by the average extra time lost to traffic compared to free-flowing conditions in 2023.
TomTom reports Cape Town residents spent 127 hours in traffic in 2023, with 48 hours due to congestion. This also meant an extra R882 annually spent on fuel due to congestion.
The City of Cape Town is committed to addressing traffic congestion, allocating billions to enhance public transport and road networks.
‘The Urban Mobility Directorate’s capital budget over the medium-term, starting on 1 July 2024 until 30 June 2027, amounts to nearly R8,9-billion,’ says councillor Rob Quintas, the City’s mayoral committee member for Urban Mobility.
In a press release in April, the City said that it has allocated R444 million for road projects, including sidewalks and cycle lanes in areas like Kuils River, Durbanville, Belhar, Salt River, M3, Maitland, Kommetjie Main Road, and Diep River, to ease congestion.
Additionally, R6.28 billion is earmarked for the new Khayelitsha/Mitchells Plain MyCiTi route, with R668 million for MyCiTi buses, R221 million for bus stops, and R176 million for upgrading 65 transport interchanges.
Cape Town plans to invest R764 million in streetlight repairs, R826 million in road maintenance and pothole repairs for 2024/2025, and R735 million in road upgrades over three years.
‘For our local economy to grow at pace and to create jobs, we need to ensure that goods, services, and, most importantly, people can get to where they need to be in the most equitable, dignified and sustainable way possible,’ says Quintas.
Congestion hurts both economic growth and the environment. TomTom found each vehicle emitted 754kg of CO2 annually, with 88kg due to congestion.
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Picture: ER Lombard / Gallo
