Vancouver has world-class terrible traffic congestion, study finds

Vancouver drivers may already know this, but the beautiful British Columbia city has downright terrible traffic congestion.

The frequent topic of curses and conversation was reinforced in a public study released on Tuesday, which found that Vancouver had the most-congested roadways in Canada.

The TomTom Global Traffic Index determined that the average Vancouverite experiences 87 hours of delay time per year, based on a 30-minute commute.

Toronto is Canada's second most congested city and sees 83 hours of delays every year.

This is the fourth annual traffic index released by navigation company TomTom; the findings are based anonymous data gleaned from thousands of customers.

Vancouver's traffic is not just terrible from a Canadian perspective. It is also terrible on an international level, ranking fifth in the Americas behind only Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Los Angeles. It also ranked 11th in the world, with Moscow and Istanbul setting the pace.

According to the TomTom Traffic Index, Vancouver drivers experience 37 minute in delays for every hour driven during peak periods.

The worst times to drive in Vancouver are Tuesday morning and Thursday evening. During those times, commutes were 60 per cent longer and 80 per cent longer than when roads are clear.

Last year, November 15 was found to be the most congested day.

Of course, it wouldn't be a conversation about traffic if other cities didn't get their say. Six other Canadian communities made the international list, with Toronto ranking ninth worst in the Americas.

Ottawa (12th), Montreal (13th), Calgary (18th), Quebec City (20th) and Edmonton (30th) also made the list of longest delays in the Americas, with average commute delays ranging from 81 to 57 hours over the course of a year.

Interestingly, the study found that drivers who try to take shortcuts, using side roads instead of major arteries, actually add 50 per cent more travel time to their journey on average.

Vancouver, for example, suffered an average of 21 per cent congestion on highways and 39 per cent congestion on non-highways. So stick to the major roads, even if the bumper-to-bumper traffic drives you bonkers.