The time it takes most people to get to work sometimes feels like a job. The starting, the stopping, and rude, angry drivers, can leave a person stressed out before they even arrive to the office. Over the last three years, the daily commute with rising, extreme traffic congestion is becoming more and more painful.
Designed to gauge the physical and emotional toll that everyday traffic and related issues have on people around the world, the 2010 IBM Commuter Pain survey of 8,192 drivers in 20 global cities on 5 continents looks at regional differences in commuting patterns and the relationship between roadway traffic and work/school performance, health and lifestyle, trip planning, and other issues.
Think Los Angeles or New York City has the world’s worst traffic? Think again. IBM recently released its third annual Commuter Pain Study that for the first time addresses global commuter pain in 20 key international cities.
According to the study, Beijing and Mexico City have the most painful commutes and Moscow drivers were found to be the most patient drivers spending an average of 2.5 stuck in traffic during their daily commute.
30% of respondents reported increased stress and 27% increased anger; 29% reported that traffic has harmed their performance in work or school; and 38% reported having cancelled a planned trip due to anticipated traffic. These events are impacting communities around the world, where governments, citizens and private sector organizations are looking beyond traditional remedies like additional roads and greater access to public transportation to reverse the negative impacts of increased road congestion.
So what can be done to fix the world’s traffic problems?
Technology can help. For the first time in history, digital and physical infrastructures are converging. IBM is actively working in the area of Smarter Transportation using a worldwide team of scientists, industry experts and IT services professionals to research, test and deploy new traffic information management capabilities in cities around the world.
Findings from the Commuter Pain Survey will be used to assess citizen concerns about traffic and commuter issues; expand solutions like automated tolling, real-time traffic prediction, congestion charging, and intelligent route planning; and serve as a basis for pioneering innovative new approaches to traffic mitigation.