Yes, Cape Town is officially the most congested city in SA – here’s how to avoid traffic jams
Alternative routes to cut traffic pressure in Cape Town
The TomTom Traffic Index has exposed the city of Cape Town to be the most congested city in the country.
Jeff Osborne, Head of Automotive for Gumtree SA, says that this finding is mirrored by second hand car stats collated from the online classifieds site.
“The Western Cape region hosts just over 64,000 current Gumtree Autos listings, with an average of 81,000 listings occurring monthly; the Johannesburg area features only 42,000 current listings and an average of 80,000 listings every month,” comments Osborne.
Also read: This is what I have to say about Cape Town traffic
The TomTom reported that Cape Town motorists spend at least 152 extra hours behind the wheel because of traffic congestion. To aid this the City plans to spend R750-million to improve road infrastructure over a period of five years and in the meantime, has urged those commuting to and from the city to consider working flexi hours to reduce pressure during peak hours.
Osborne says there are additional measures that commuters can take to reduce traffic on the roads.
- Car pool is a must. Start a lift club with co-workers that live in your area in order to reduce the volume of cars in traffic. Gumtree has just under 1,000 rideshare opportunities posted that you could take advantage of.
- Take public transport. The MyCiti bus offers efficient transport to and from the Cape Town CBD, and MetroRail offers a Business Express train that seats 252 people travelling from Strand, Somerset West, Eerste River, Kuils River, Mutual and Firgrove.
- Opt for two wheels instead of four. Be it a motorbike, scooter or bicycle, you can beat the traffic at any time of the day when you’re only traveling on two wheels.
- Leave early, stay late. Leave home ahead of peak hour to miss the school traffic, and stay a little later to avoid the end of day rush.