Beijing and Mexico City have the worst traffic jams in the world, as record traffic levels take their toll on people's health, productivity and social life, a study said Wednesday.
Most of the 8,192 motorists interviewed for the IBM Commuter Pain Study in 20 cities around the world said traffic has worsened in the past three years.
Beijing and Mexico City scored 99 out of 100 in IBM's commuter pain index, trailed closely by Johannesburg, Moscow and New Delhi. Yet 48 percent of drivers surveyed in the Chinese capital said traffic had improved over the past three years, as the city expands its transportation system.
Moscow outshined its rivals for the longest traffic jams, averaging 2.5 hours--the world average was one hour. Los Angeles had the worst traffic of all US cities, scoring 25 on the commuter pain scale.
But Los Angeles commuters fared much better than their counterparts in Beijing, where traffic was nearly five times worse, according to the IBM survey. Stockholm -- with a low index score of 15 -- Melbourne and Houston had the most pain-free roadway traffic.
IBM blamed most commuter troubles on the failure of infrastructure to keep pace with global economic activity.
IBM's was based on 10 issues, including commuting time, time stuck in traffic and the traffic flow's impact on stress, anger and work.
周三的一项研究显示，北京和墨西哥城的交通拥堵状况在世界上最为严重，交通状况已经严重危害到居民的健康、生产以及生活。
IBM的一个名为通勤痛苦研究的项目对全球20个城市的8192驾驶人员进行了访问，其中大多数人表示，交通状况在过去3年不断恶化。
在交通堵塞严重的城市中，莫斯科“一枝独秀”，平均2.5次/小时，世界平均水平是1次/小时。洛杉矶得25分，位列美国交通最差城市之首。
但是，根据IBM的调查，洛杉矶通勤表现仍要好于北京，北京的交通状况比洛杉矶差出将近5倍。斯德哥尔摩的通勤痛苦指数最低，仅为15，斯德哥尔摩、墨尔本和休斯顿的道路交通状况最为乐观。
IBM指出，大多数的通勤麻烦应归咎于基础设施建设未能跟上全球经济活动的步伐。
IBM开展此项研究是基于对10个问题的调查，包括上下班时间、交通行进时间、车辆的流量给人造成的压力的影响、乘客的愤怒和工作等问题。