TomTom Research Finds Los Angeles Most Congested City in North America

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TomTom today announced the results of its latest Congestion Index, which measures traffic congestion in North American cities between July and September 2012. The third Congestion Index examines the congestion in 57 metropolitan areas with a population of more than 950,000, and found Los Angeles continued to be the most congested city in North America. On average, journey times in Los Angeles are 34% longer than when traffic in the city is flowing freely and 76% longer during evening rush hour. TomTom’s Congestion Index, including individual city reports, can be found at www.tomtom.com/congestionindex.

“Only TomTom can pin-point traffic congestion with this level of accuracy.”

TomTom’s 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 more than six trillion data measurements and is growing by five billion measurements every day. The average congestion level for all the North American cities analyzed between July and September 2012 is 19%.

Other notable findings in this edition of the Congestion Index found that the top five most congested cities lie in the west with Los Angeles (1), Vancouver (2), San Francisco (3), Honolulu (4) and Seattle (4) topping the list.

The top ten most congested North American cities, ranked by overall Congestion Level, between July and September 2012 were:

1. Los Angeles (34%)

2. Vancouver (34%)

3. San Francisco (33%)

4. Honolulu (31%)

5. Seattle (27%)

6. Toronto (26%)

7. New Orleans (25%)

8. San Jose (25%)

9. Montreal (24%)

10. Chicago (24%)

“Only TomTom can pin-point traffic congestion with this level of accuracy.” said Ralf-Peter Schäfer, Head of Traffic at TomTom. “With access to trillions of historical data points and more than 100 million anonymous, real-time data sources, we can effectively identify key congestion hot spots around the world. This highly accurate data allows us to provide governments with real insight into the realities on their roads and provide solutions that will help to reduce traffic congestion overall.”

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.

As well as assigning and ranking the overall congestion levels of 60 North American cities, the report analyses the congestion levels in cities at different times of the day and on different days of the week. TomTom analyzed capital cities as well as cities with a population of over 950,000.

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

To download the North American Congestion Index, go to www.tomtom.com/congestionindex

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