Tribune News Network
Doha
The improvements in infrastructure and enhanced public transportation options have contributed to a decline in traffic congestion throughout most of 2022 compared to 2021, particularly during peak travel times, according to the 8th edition of the Qatar Traffic Report released by Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC) on Tuesday.
According to the report, this decline in traffic congestion was realised despite the fact that user mobility has increased in 2022 as all restrictions associated with COVID-19 have been lifted.
The 8th edition of the Qatar Traffic Report provided valuable insight into the traffic trends and patterns in 2022.
The report, which analysed traffic data from 2022 and compared it against previously recorded data from past years indicated a steady decrease in traffic congestion on Qatar’s roads. This report especially shed light on the traffic behaviour during the 2022 FIFA World Cup which was held in November-December 2022.
Dr Fethi Filali, director of Technology & Research at QMIC who led the QTR team, said: “QMIC’s expanding and unique multi-source data collection network, which gathered over eight billion records of data throughout 2022, with a 13 percent increase from the previous year, is used to generate the annual QTR.
“This rich data bank, coupled with our proprietary algorithms and data processing capabilities, allows us to draw significant insights and conclusions about the behaviour of the road network in Qatar and its impact on the average driver. This also enabled us to provide daily dashboards and insights about road network performance to key stakeholders during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”
The report highlights several important areas of traffic information, including:
1. January to November 2022 saw a small (2 to 3 percentage points) decrease in congestion compared to 2021.
2. The FIFA World Cup led to a slight (1.5 percentage points) increase in congestion during December compared to 2021, with the traffic congestion index varying between 9.3 percent to 11.1 percent during November-December 2022.
3. The average number of extra hours spent due to congestion is 30 hours per commuter in 2022 (36 percent increase compared to 2021). The increase was primarily attributed to commuters driving significantly more in 2022 compared to 2021, as there were no COVID-19 restrictions in place and commuting patterns returned to normal.
4. The economic cost (lost productivity) of congestion in 2022 is estimated to be 0.3 percent of GDP, compared to 0.26 percent in 2021. This is significantly below global averages which are on the order of one percent of GDP.
5. February 2022 remained as the most congested month in the year with a Congestion Index of 11.9 percent (3 percentage points less than February 2021), while July was the least congested with an 8.1 percent Congestion Index.
6. The highest congestion period during the workdays is the evening peak around 6pm to 7pm during which the average congestion index is around 10.6 percent.
7. It is noticeable that Friday and Saturday have different traffic trends, while Thursday during the workdays has a slightly different trend as well.
Omar Mohamad Al Jaber, director of Strategic Partnerships and Outreach, said: “With eight editions released, QTR is becoming an important indicator of traffic trends, progress towards reducing congestion, and a score card for traffic management during mega events. This serves as a valuable outcome for any country or region, as it aids in the measurement and alignment of the road network and assists stakeholders and decision makers in determining optimal traffic policies and procedures. This, in turn, facilitates better urban planning and enhances traffic conditions, particularly as the population continues to expand”.
The QTR is a crucial component of QMIC’s locally developed and comprehensive mobility data platform.
The platform offers an integrated suite of services encompassing Intelligent Transport, Road Safety, and Smart Logistics/Telematics. Along with its analytics platform, advanced GIS layers and proprietary technologies, the platform includes a sophisticated multi-source data collection network.
This network comprises a large, fixed sensing network that employs QMIC’s WaveTraf road traffic sensors, Telematics devices installed in fleet vehicles and crowd-sourced data from thousands of Wain mobile application users.
QMIC is dedicated to expanding its data collection network to incorporate more comprehensive and informative tools. QMIC also aims to provide a vast range of related applications and services as a component of its intelligent mobility data and analytics platform.
