Commuting to and from office, school or college during peak rush hours can be a taxing task. But did you know that the longest traffic jam dubbed "The Mother of all Traffic Jams" was 12 days and 62 miles long!
Traffic jams and road congestion are an inevitable part of our lives and in its annual traffic index report, TomTom.com - the Amsterdam-based navigation and traffic analytics firm - found the world's most traffic-clogged cities.
To determine the most jam-packed roads around the world, TomTom gathered data from its traffic index that uses GPS navigation system from users in 180 global cities. The index measures time taken to travel a certain distance during rush hours and normal periods and the difference is expressed in terms of average percentage.
Below are the top five cities where the traffic has been worst in 2013 (list courtesy: MarketWatch)
1. Moscow - Increase in travel time: 74%; Delay per hour driven in peak period: 76 minutes
2. Istanbul - Increase in travel time: 62% ; Delay per hour driven in peak period: 66 minutes
3. Rio de Janeiro - Increase in travel time: 55% ; Delay per hour driven in peak period: 59 minutes
4. Mexico City - Increase in travel time: 54% ; Delay per hour driven in peak period: 53 minutes
5. São Paulo - Increase in travel time: 46% ; Delay per hour driven in peak period: 48 minutes
Other cities like Rome, Dublin and Los Angeles also made it to the top ten most traffic-jammed cities in the world.
Traffic and pollution have become major urban problems of the generation. Experts say that the traditional methods of widening roads or building fly-overs are not really helping because a large number of people now own their own vehicles.
Using public transport could be a solution. In a March 2014 report, the American Public Transportation Association claimed that usage of public transit in the country had touched its highest since 1956 as services improved and gas and fuel charges increased.
"Now gas is averaging well under $4 a gallon, the economy is coming back and people are riding transit in record numbers. We're seeing a fundamental shift in how people are moving about their communities," Michael Melaniphy, president of the association, told the New York Times in an earlier interview.
Take look at the most historic traffic jams of all times here.
