Trivial traffic? Calgary ranked 338th most congested city for motorists

The province is committing $478M to improve Deerfoot Trail, the busiest stretch of highway in Alberta.

Calgary — A new study confirms the headaches and frustrations of drivers on Calgary streets are nothing compared to the tie-ups in the majority of major cities around the globe.

According to the TomTom Traffic Index 2019 — a review of traffic in 416 cities in 57 countries — Calgary is ranked 338th in the world when it comes to the worst traffic congestion.

The study found Calgary to be 18 per cent congested, drastically less congested than the cities at the top of the list. Bengaluru, India and Manila, Philippines were considered 71 per cent congested.

The least congested city included in the study was Greensboro - High Point, North Carolina with an average congestion rate of nine per cent.

Calgary's worst traffic day of 2019 — Wednesday, Nov. 27 when traffic congestion reached 50 per cent — was still less congested than an average day for the 14 cities at the top of the rankings.

It will likely come as little surprise to most Calgarians that Christmas Day was the least congested day on city streets last year (three per cent congestion).

The worst time for travel in Calgary was determined to be Thursday afternoons, in the midst of rush hour, between the hours of 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Rush hour travel added an average of 78 hours of time behind the wheel for motorists.

The complete ranking are available here.