Traffic congestion near Guomao Bridge Photo: CFP

Beijing has the worst traffic jams in the world, as record traffic levels take their toll on people's health, productivity and social lives, a study by IBM said Wednesday.

Beijing and Mexico City scored 99 out of 100 in IBM's commuter pain index, followed by Johannesburg, Moscow and New Delhi. Traffic in Beijing was nearly five times worse than Los Angeles, the worst traffic of all US cities, scoring 25.

IBM surveyed 8,192 motorists in 20 cities on six continents, based on 10 issues, including commuting time, time stuck in traffic and the traffic flow's impact on stress, anger and work.

In Beijing, 53 percent of respondents saying they were angry when they hit traffic jams, and 69 percent said bad traffic had altered their traveling plans in the last three years. Beijing was number one in both these categories, ahead of any other city.

According to the survey, 91 percent of commuters in Beijing drive downtown, again more than any other city. Commuters in Beijing spend 52 minutes on average on their commute, the longest of any city in China, according to a study by the Chinese Academy of Sciences on June 5.

The congestion has already had its impact on Beijingers' lifestyles. "Most of my colleagues don't have time for parties, entertainment or exercise, because of time spent on buses," an employee surnamed Wang working at a French company in Beijing, told the Global Times.

Despite Beijing's painful commute, the city has bus use rates of 44 percent, raising the question of how much worse traffic could be, the report said.

But things aren't always better on the subways. People living in Tiantongyuan and Huilongguan, two huge communities in the suburbs, allegedly have to queue for over 30 minutes outside subway stations because the passenger flow exceeds capabilities.

Now Beijing has more than 4.2 million vehicles on its roads and over 22 million residents. Vehicles are increasing by about 2,214 a day and are estimated to reach 5 million by the end of this year.

Critics point out that 4 million vehicles isn't that many for a city such as Beijing, especially compared with 8 million in Tokyo and New York, but Beijing traffic is much worse in comparison.

Surprisingly, IBM's survey shows that 16 percent of Beijing commuters thought the traffic situation had improved substantially in the last three years, second to New Delhi, and much higher than the average of 5 percent in the world, which can be attributed to new transportation capacities being aggressively added.

IBM blamed most commuter troubles on the failure of infrastructure to keep pace with global economic activity.

Beijing also topped the list of having most respondents saying that improved public transport would help reduce travel stress. Beijing reportedly plans to build 850 kilometers more subway and a light railway 200-kilometers long by 2020. Beijing plans to invest 80 billion yuan ($12 billion) this year on its transportation infrastructure.

Naveem Lamba, IBM's global industry chief for intelligent transportation, said traditional solutions such as building more roads were not enough to cope with the surge of traffic in rapidly growing cities.

"Multiple solutions need to be deployed simultaneously to avoid a failure of the transportation networks," he said in a statement.

"New techniques are required that empower transportation officials to better understand and proactively manage the flow of traffic."

Global Times–AFP