KUWAIT: Ariel view of Kuwait City during sunset. —KUNA

KUWAIT: According to the INRIX 2017 Global Traffic Scorecard about the most congested cities in the world, Los Angeles topped the list, while Kuwait was ranked 390th, following last year's ranking of 325. The study also showed that individuals spent around 22 hours a year behind the wheel in traffic jams (ie 10 percent of time daily).

Asia-wise, Kuwait came fifth amongst Arab cities after Riyadh, Dubai, Jeddah and Fujairah, and 22nd in Asia. The study also showed that commuters in Los Angeles spent 102 hours last year in traffic congestions, followed by those living in Moscow and New York, who spent 91 hours, Sao Paulo 86 hours, San Francisco 79 hours, Bogota 75 hours, London 74 hours and Paris (which came ninth) with 69 hours.

Country-wise, the study showed that Thailand topped the list of countries where drivers spent the longest hours behind the wheel, followed by Indonesia, Colombia and Venezuela, while Russia came sixth followed by the US and Brazil. The INRIX study analyzed data collected from 38 countries and 1,360 cities, and estimated the cost of the time wasted by drivers in America as $1,445 annually (that includes their own as well as working time), which adds up to $300 billion in a country that has 211 million vehicles.

By A Saleh