Lisbon's Traffic Woes: 4,740 Minutes Lost Annually Yet Ranks 8th in EU for Mobility

Lisbon's Traffic Insights

Lisbon is making headlines with its recent ranking in the TomTom Traffic Index, which evaluates congestion levels across 500 cities worldwide. According to the index, the Portuguese capital is the third best city in the EU and the fifth best in the world for low congestion levels. However, there’s a catch: Lisbon residents lose an average of 4,740 minutes (or 79 hours) each year during peak traffic hours.

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Key Statistics

To cover a distance of 10 kilometers in Lisbon, it takes 23 minutes and 47 seconds. When comparing other EU capitals, Luxembourg, Ljubljana, and Stockholm lead the way in terms of the least time lost while traveling that same distance. In terms of peak hour delays, Valletta, Luxembourg, and Bratislava are the top three cities where residents experience the least traffic.

Global Traffic Overview

On a global scale, Mexico City tops the list as the most congested city in 2024, with a congestion level of 52%, while Thousand Oaks in the USA ranks as the least congested.

Local Government's Take

In response to these findings, Carlos Moedas, the Mayor of Lisbon, views the results as a reflection of a well-balanced urban vision. This follows previous reports highlighting that Lisbon residents lost 60 hours in traffic over the past year. Filipe Anacoreta Correia, the Vice Mayor responsible for Mobility, expressed pride in Lisbon's ranking as one of the top three cities for mobility in Europe, noting that the city has a 26% congestion rate, which is only surpassed by Madrid and Valletta.

The city's commitment to improving urban mobility is evidently yielding positive results, as indicated by these statistics.