Lagos Not Among with World’s Worst Cities, Says Report

Gboyega Akinsanmi

Lagos, Africa’s largest megacity and the world’s fastest growing metropolis, is not among the world’s worst cities with the historic record of traffic congestion, says the World Traffic Index 2017. The report, which measures traffic congestion in 390 cities across 48 countries globally, was issued by TomTom, a global leader in traffic management, navigation and mapping products.

The report showed that Africa recorded a 15 per cent increase in traffic congestion between 2015 and 2016; North America, 5 per cent; Europe, 9 per cent; Asia & Oceania, 12 per cent; and South America 7 per cent.

While Africa at large recorded a 15 per cent rise in traffic congestion, the report showed a 10 per cent rise in global traffic congestion between 2015 and 2016. But the report did not list Lagos with the cities with the worst cases of traffic congestion within the same period.

Reacting to the report on Sunday, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, said the fact that Lagos was not ranked with the cities with the worst cases of traffic congestion indicated that the strategy of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was indeed working.