F

Traffic Congestion
in Metro Manila

Latest data from TomTom Traffic Index showed that

acts
Metro Manila’s annual traffic congestion significantly
in
igures
dropped to 53 percent in 2020 from 71 percent in 2019.
This means that a 30-minute trip would take 53 percent
longer that it would have during baseline uncongested
conditions in Metro Manila. Despite the improvement
in the annual traffic congestion following the imposition
of COVID-19 community lockdowns, the Philippines Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department
remains to be the fourth most congested city in the House of Representatives
world, from second place in 2019. July 2021 (No. 46)

Figure 1. Top Ten Cities with

the Worst Traffic Congestion, 2020
Figure 2. Monthly Congestion Levels,
Metro Manila (in %)

Source: TomTom Traffic

Source: TomTom TrafficIndex
Index(www.tomtom.com)
(www.tomtom.com)

TomTom’s 2020 Traffic Index showed Moscow has the Source:TomTom

Source: TomTomTraffic
Traffic Index
Index

worst traffic congestion last year at 54 percent. The Excluding Sundays and Saturdays, Fridays usually
traffic congestion level in the Philippines was the same have the highest daily congestion level at 72.3 percent,
as those of Mumbai, India and Bogota, Colombia. The on average (Table 1). Prior to the pandemic, the worst
report, however, ranked Mumbai and Bogota at second traffic congestion in 2020 was recorded in January 24
and third, respectively. (Friday) with the highest average daily congestion level
of 97 percent. In 2019, the worst traffic congestion was
TomTom International B.V., a location technology
in August 16 (with 107 percent average daily congestion
company, developed the TomTom Traffic Index, which
level) while the least congested day was in April 19,
provides detailed insights on traffic congestion levels
although both were Fridays.
in over 400 cities around the world for the past ten (10)
years. In 2020, it ranked cities from the most to the least Table 1. Weekly Traffic Congestion by Time of Day
congested using real traffic data from 416 cities across (In %)
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri
57 countries in the world. 6:00 am 73 72 67 68 65
7:00 am 92 96 90 92 88
Monthly Congestion Levels. Metro Manila saw 8:00 am 88 99 95 96 93
9:00 am 76 91 88 90 88
consistently low traffic levels below 50 percent starting 10:00 am 69 86 86 89 89
11:am 62 79 80 85 87
March 2020 when strict lockdowns were in place (Figure am
2). February 2020 was the most congested month with 12:00 pm 52 68 71 75 81
1:00 pm 53 69 73 76 85
68 percent congestion level, while April 2020 which 2:00 pm 64 80 84 87 99
3:00 pm 69 83 89 91 105
was the height of the lockdown, registered the least 4:00 pm 76 89 95 97 112
congestion at 0 percent. The average congestion level 5:00 pm 97 109 116 118 132
6:00 pm 112 123 127 132 143
in the metropolis rose from 12 percent in May 2020 to 42 7:00 pm 98 108 110 113 123
percent in June 2020 when the government eased travel 8:00 pm 70 81 82 83 95
9:00 pm 46 58 61 61 75
restrictions. Also, in 2020, traffic steadily increased from 10:00 pm 34 44 47 49 69
11:00 pm 18 25 29 31 52
35 percent in August to 48 percent in September, 55 Average 54.0 62.7 64.0 66.0 72.3
percent in October and 60 percent in December. Source: 2020 TomTom Traffic Index
 Figure 3. Traffic Congestion Level during Rush Figure 4. Relative Congestion of Natural Cities*
Hours (Am and Pm, Weekdays Only), Metro Manila,
2020

Note: The numbers enclosed in a box is the average congestion level during
rush hours in the morning and evening.
Source of Basic Data: TomTom Traffic Index
Figure 3 shows the “rush hours” or that time of the
Note: Relative congestion equals the citywide congestion level divided by the
sample average of 1.24.
*Adopted from the Asian Development Outlook 2019 Update

day with the highest traffic congestion level. The rush

hours are between 7:00 am to 9:00 am, and 5:00 pm to
7:00 pm. In particular, the rush hours on a Friday have
recorded the highest traffic congestion level of 111.2
percent, on average. Traveling on a Friday evening
rush hour is the worst time to travel with an average
traffic congestion level of 132.7 percent. According to
TomTom, traveling after 7:00 pm on a Friday could save
up to 5 hours per year for a 30-minute commute.
Table 2. Extra Time Spent in Driving
During Rush Hours
2019 2020
Morning +29 minutes +20 minutes
Evening +38 minutes +29 minutes
Time lost per year 257 hours
Source: TomTom Traffic Index
The ADB calculated the average travel time using
Google Maps, comparing peak travel times with off
peak travel time, and how this ratio of peak to off peak
travel time is different across cities. The study also
used night time city images of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, grid population data
from LandScan Datasets of the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, including trip routes from Google Maps. It
was noted that one major cause of urban congestion is
a lack of efficient and affordable public transportation.
Public transport becomes more attractive if it offers a
cheap and speedy way for people to travel within cities,
thus reducing urban transport (ADB 2019).
188 hours Figure 5. Motor Vehicle (MV) Registration
in Metro Manila by Type, 2016 to 2019

Motorists in Metro Manila spend 20 minutes more per

30-minute trip during rush hours in the morning, and
29 minutes more during rush hours in the evening.
This meant they lost around 188 hours per year, or an
equivalent of 7 days and 20 hours. Prior to the pandemic
in 2019, the total time lost during rush hours was 29
minutes in the morning and 38 minutes in the evening.
This translated to about 257 hours lost per year during
rush hours which is equivalent to 10 days and 17 hours
(Table 2).
Source: Land Transportation Office (LTO)
Relative Congestion Index. A related study by the
Asian Development Bank (ADB 2019) found that Motor Vehicle (MV) Registration. Data from the LTO
Metro Manila has the highest congestion level of 1.5 showed that the number of MV registrations in Metro
among 278 natural cities with a population greater than Manila (both new and renewals) climbed by 10.1
5 million – significantly higher than the 1.24 average percent to about 3.1 million MVs in 2019 from 2.8 million
congestion level of the 278 sampled cities (Figure 4). A MVs in 2018. MV registration in Metro Manila accounts
congestion level of 1.5 means that 50 percent more time for 24.2 percent of the 12.7 million MV registrations for
is needed to travel in peak hours than in off-peak hours. the entire country. Of the 3.1 million MV registrations
Other highly congested cities include Kuala Lumpur in in 2019, 47.8 percent were accounted by motorcycles
Malaysia, Yangon in Myanmar, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and tricycles, 21.6 percent by utility vehicles (UVs) and
Bengaluru in India, and Hanoi in Vietnam. 16.1 percent by passenger cars, among others.