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Warsaw Most Congested City in Europe - TomTom Launches Quarterly Congestion Index to Identify and Address Congestion Hot Spots across Europe


    TomTom today launches the first quarterly Congestion Index that accurately identifies and analyses traffic congestion in major cities across Europe. The report, initially covering 31 cities, finds Warsaw the most congested city in Europe. On average, journey times in Warsaw are 42% longer than when traffic in the city is flowing freely and 89% longer during morning rush hour. The TomTom Congestion Index, including individual city reports, can be found at www.tomtom.com/congestionindex.

    The TomTom Congestion Index is the world´s most accurate barometer of congestion in urban areas. The Index is uniquely based on real travel time data captured by vehicles driving the entire road network. TomTom´s traffic database contains over five trillion data measurements and is growing by five billion measurements every day. The overall congestion level for all the cities analysed in Europe is 24% - meaning journey times take 24% longer than when traffic is flowing freely.

    The top ten most congested cities, ranked by overall congestion level, between January and March 2012 were:

    1. Warsaw, 42% congestion level   6. Dublin, 30%   2. Marseille, 41%   7. Bradford "´ Leeds, 28%   3. Rome, 34%   8. London, 27%   4. Brussels, 34%   9. Stockholm, 27%   5. Paris, 32%   10. Hamburg, 27%  

    "Over the years, with the help of our customers, we have built the largest and most accurate database of travel times in the world," said Harold Goddijn;

    Chief Executive Officer of TomTom. "When we combine this travel database with our detailed real-time traffic information and routing technology, we can not only pin point congestion, but can guide drivers away from congested areas onto faster routes."

    "Even when only a percentage of drivers use a different and faster route, the available capacity on the entire road network increases, which benefits all drivers," Goddijn added.

    TomTom´s Congestion Index also compares congestion levels between January and March 2012 with the same period in 2011. Based on this analysis, Bradford "´ Leeds in the UK saw the biggest increase in traffic congestion with journey times slowing significantly. Munich, Berlin, Marseille and Vienna all saw increased levels of congestion. Lisbon, Bern, Amsterdam, Milan and Rome all experienced a reduction in congestion levels.

    Notes to Editor

    About the TomTom Congestion Index

    The methodology used in the Congestion Index compares travel times during non-congested periods (free flow) with travel times in peak hours. The difference is expressed as a percentage increase in travel time. The Index takes into account local roads, arterials, as well as highways. All data is based on actual GPS based measurements.

    A comparison is made for the travel times during the quarter and this is compared with the same period a year ago.

    As well as assigning and ranking the overall congestion levels of over 31 European cities, the report analyses the congestion levels in cities at different times of the day and on different days of the week. TomTom analysed capital cities as well as cities with a population of over 800,000.

    Individual city reports include more detailed information such as the most congested day, average free flow speed, time delay per year for commuters and congestion levels on main and secondary roads.

    A separate North American Congestion Index report is also available.

    To download the European or North American Congestion Index report go to www.tomtom.com/congestionindex .

    Results Summary

    Rank   City   Country   Overall Congestion level (%)   Morning peak (%)   Evening peak (%)   Average speed (km/h)   1   Warsaw   Poland   42   89   86   54   2   Marseille   France   41   79   81   45   3   Rome   Italy   34   76   66   54   4   Brussels   Belgium   34   82   86   47   5   Paris   France   32   72   63   48   6   Dublin   Ireland   30   70   63   51   7   Bradford-Leeds   UK   28   63   60   53   8   London   UK   27   48   50   51   9   Stockholm   Sweden   27   65   62   49   10   Hamburg   Germany   27   49   42   51   11   Cologne   Germany   26   54   47   52   12   Milan   Italy   26   71   53   50   13   Berlin   Germany   26   42   44   50   14   Vienna   Austria   24   42   43   48   15   Oslo   Norway   24   66   70   50   16   Naples   Italy   24   34   43   45   17   Turin   Italy   23   50   42   51   18   Munich   Germany   23   50   36   54   19   Birmingham   UK   21   51   43   57   20   Luxemburg   Luxemburg   21   51   47   55   21   Barcelona   Spain   21   49   39   54   22   Lisbon   Portugal   20   41   49   56   23   Helsinki   Finland   20   43   43   57   24   Prague   Czech republic   20   46   41   53   25   Ruhe region west   Germany   17   38   28   51   26   Copenhagen   Denmark   16   42   29   57   27   Madrid   Spain   16   41   33   67   28   Ruhr Region East   Germany   15   31   28   51   29   Amsterdam   Netherlands   15   33   31   55   30   Valencia   Spain   14   21   21   59   31   Bern   Switzerland   8   19   31   48  

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    About TomTom

    Founded in 1991, TomTom (AEX:TOM2) is the world´s leading supplier of in-car location and navigation products and services focused on providing all drivers with the world´s best navigation experience. Headquartered in Amsterdam, TomTom has over 3,500 employees and sells its products in over 40 countries.

    Our products include portable navigation devices, in-dash infotainment systems, fleet management solutions, maps and real-time services, including the award winning TomTom HD Traffic.

    For the world´s most up-to-date route planner, including live traffic information go to www.tomtom.com/livetraffic

    For further information, please visit www.tomtom.com