Nairobi has been ranked second in the world among cities with the worst traffic situation, according to a report from Numbeo, a website which collects user- contributed data about cities and countries worldwide.
The report lists Mumbai in India as the most congested city in the world.
Pune, also in India, is ranked third, followed by Cairo in Egypt, India’ Kolkata City is fifth, Miami in US is ranked 6th, Tehran (India) 7th, Brazil’s Recife city at 8th place, South Africa’s Pretoria is at 9th place while Manila in Philippines is at number 10.
Traffic Index is a composite index of time consumed in traffic due to job commute, estimation of time consumption dissatisfaction, CO2 consumption estimation in traffic and overall inefficiencies in the traffic system.
Nairobi’s traffic condition index is at 253.22 and on average, Nairobians spend 55.79 minutes in traffic.
“We estimate that in this city, due to travelling to work/school, per passenger is produced yearly 1,406.55kg of CO2. It is needed 16.40 trees for each passenger to produce enough oxygen to cover that.” noted Numbeo.
It is expected that the congestion leads to an estimated Sh 58 Million a day of lost productivity in the city, and as many as 13,000 people killed in road accidents a year.
Killer Traffic Jams
People exposed to the daily hassles of traffic jams easily get stressed. This can contribute to health problems such as heart disease, asthma, obesity, aging and gastrointestinal problems, among many others.
Dealing with long queues, competing for a spot in public vehicles, and waiting for traffic to move also trigger stress.
READ; Productivity killer: The increasing costs of congestion in Nairobi
