Mexico City: Third Most Congested City in the Americas

Mexico City has been ranked the 13th most congested city globally, with residents spending an average of 152 hours annually in rush hour traffic. Experts emphasize the urgency of addressing urban traffic challenges due to their impact on public health and global CO2 emissions.

According to the TomTom Traffic Index, which analyzed 387 cities across 55 countries, Mexico City residents spent an average of 26 minutes and 30 seconds on a 10km commute in 2023. This marked an increase of 50 seconds compared to 2022, resulting in a total of 152 hours lost to traffic. The index highlights that driving a gasoline-fueled car during rush hours in 2023 costs an average of MX$9,661 (US$475). In terms of environmental impact, these vehicles emitted an average of 982km of CO2 during rush hours, which TomTom estimates would require 98 trees to absorb over the year.

Mexico City is 10 minutes and 50 seconds behind London, which ranks first with an average commute time of 37 minutes and 20 seconds for a 10km trip. In the Americas, Mexico City is the third busiest city, following Lima, Peru, with 28 minutes and 30 seconds, and Toronto, Canada, with 29 minutes.

According to Dante Pérez, Researcher, UNAM’s Institute of Applied Mathematics and Systems Research (IIMAS), addressing the city’s traffic congestion could not require major infrastructure investments like road interchanges or second floors, but investments in technology, which could be cheaper and have similar results. Pérez says that flexible, reversible lanes, automatically adjusted using cameras and sensors, could reduce traffic by up to 40%. Pérez emphasizes that such a solution requires investment in human talent, such as data scientists and transportation engineers, to make it a reality.

Induced Demand: A Problem to Tackle 

Globally, adding lanes to roads has been implemented by governments to alleviate congestion, however, experts have been pointing out that it might have the contrary effect due to a phenomenon called induced demand. “Induced demand is the idea that creating more of something increases the consumption of that thing. And so, if you are looking to reduce consumption of a good or service or utility, you will not achieve that by making more of the good,” stresses Matthew Beedham, Editor, TomTom. 

While Beedham says induced demand is surrounded by a heated debate, experts note that over 80% of public infrastructure is car-centric. In this sense, Pérez suggests investing in existing public transportation infrastructure to expand capacity and also consider alternative means of transportation like bicycles and other non-motorized vehicles.