International tourists will soon discover, during the Olympic Games next summer, a less glamorous side of Paris: that of the capital of traffic jams. The “City of Lights” will in fact still be at the top of the most congested French cities in 2023, according to the latest edition of the “Traffic Index” produced by the GPS company TomTom, published this Wednesday. Last year, Parisians lost a staggering total of 120 hours of life in traffic jams, the equivalent of five full days. TomTom also observes that this is an increase of almost 11 hours compared to 2022.
The city of Bordeaux is not to be outdone, since its inhabitants spent 111 hours stationary or idling in their car last year (3 hours 15 minutes more than in 2022). The “pearl of Aquitaine” even achieves the feat of being on par with Paris on the average travel time to cover 10 km in 2023, or 26 minutes and 30 seconds. In terms of number of hours of traffic jams, Lyon completes the French podium (89 hours). Then further afield we find Grenoble (77 hours), Montpellier (73 hours), Nantes (72 hours), Toulouse (71 hours). Marseille is only in eighth position (68 hours), just ahead of Clermont-Ferrand and Rouen (both 60 hours).
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TomTom’s global data, covering 55 countries and 387 cities, could almost make Parisians put into perspective what they are experiencing. The French capital only comes in ninth place in the world (and fifth place in Europe) among the most congested megacities. Far behind the leading trio made up of the Irish capital Dublin (158 hours), its Peruvian counterpart Lima (157 hours) and the Mexican capital Mexico (152 hours). Ahead of Paris, we also find Bucharest (Romania), London (United Kingdom), Milan (Italy), as well as the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Pune.
On the other hand, it is in London where driving 10 km takes the longest on average in the world (37 minutes and 20 seconds), ahead of Dublin (29 minutes and 30 seconds) and Toronto, Canada (29 minutes). . Milan and Lima follow. “There are 80 cities around the world in this year’s index where it takes drivers more than 20 minutes to complete a 10-mile trip,” TomTom notes, noting that U.S. cities, conversely, “manage traffic well.”
