Drivers in German cities are again spending longer in traffic jams. According to data from the US company Inrix, the average waiting time rose by three hours to 40 hours per driver last year. “The traffic-related delays have already exceeded the level from before the corona pandemic, albeit only by one percent overall,” says Inrix.
In cities such as Hanover, Bremen and Frankfurt/Main, congestion times last year were again far higher than in 2019. Düsseldorf, Munich and Hamburg were even lower. WELT received the data in advance.
According to the analysis, the level of congestion in German metropolitan regions is surprisingly low in international comparison. No German municipality makes it onto the global list of the 25 most congested cities, and there is only one name from Germany in the top 25 in Europe: Berlin.
In the capital, drivers spent an average of 55 hours in traffic jams last year, the same number as the year before. The analysts calculate these values based on real traffic data from cars on the road. The value for the hours of traffic jams is derived from a comparison of the travel time during rush hour and during phases when the roads are largely clear, i.e. at night.
Worldwide, the traffic situation worsened in 78 percent of the 946 metropolitan areas examined last year. Just over half of the cities now have more traffic jams and slow-moving traffic than before the coronavirus pandemic, but 41 percent are still below the 2019 levels. New York City leads the congestion metropolises with 101 hours of lost time per year per driver, followed by Mexico City, London and Paris, all of which are just under 100 hours of congestion per year per average driver.
In Germany, the leaders in the traffic jam statistics only reach just over half of this value: Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart were the most congested cities last year, according to Inrix. The routes with the greatest loss of time last year were in the Stuttgart area (A81), Duisburg (A3), Essen (A52) and Munich (B2).
The Bavarian capital even appears three times in the ranking of the ten worst congested roads. “Remarkably, no routes in Cologne, Bonn or Wiesbaden were in the top 10 this time, after each of these cities had at least one road section in the top 10 in 2022,” the analysts write in the study.
Overall, they have noticed a significant change in traffic flows since the pandemic. This is primarily reflected in a shift in car traffic from the city center to the surrounding areas. According to the data, in the last year alone, trips to the city center fell by 17 percent in Berlin, 16 percent in Munich and 11 percent in Hamburg.
This trend is also evident in Cologne and Frankfurt, indicating “a gradual migration from city centers.” Home offices and online shopping are obviously contributing to the fact that residents of the surrounding areas have to or want to travel to the city less often.
Nevertheless, you cannot speak of speedy driving in any of the traffic-congested inner cities. According to the analysis, the average speed on the “last mile” in Berlin last year was 22 kilometers per hour, in Munich it was only 18 and in Stuttgart at least 28. Traffic crawls even slower in the European traffic-congested metropolises of London and Paris: according to Inrix, the average speed there was 16 km/h last year.
In Germany, buses and trains recorded increasing numbers of users in 2023, as in the previous year. According to the Federal Statistical Office, passenger numbers grew to 10.9 billion passengers, seven percent more than in 2022. The majority of these transports concern local transport and movements within metropolitan areas. However, this figure was still eight percent below the level before the corona pandemic.
Traffic jams also mean costs: for drivers, because they spend their time in the car, and for society, because working time and fuel are wasted, among other things. Analysts at Inrix estimated the costs for drivers in Germany alone at 3.2 billion euros last year, an increase of 14 percent over the previous year.
The country’s economy is not prepared to accept this. A broad alliance of lobby groups – primarily from the construction industry – has just called for more government spending on the renovation of bridges. And the Federation of German Industries (BDI) is proposing an investment program worth 400 billion euros for the next ten years. According to the BDI, 158 billion euros are missing for transport infrastructure alone during this period, and additional investments are needed. This would certainly also reduce congestion times.