Parisian and Ile-de-France motorists spent more than 100 hours in traffic jams in 2024, according to data from Traffic Index from TomTom. Paris, despite its reputation as a congested city, comes in second behind Bordeaux in France, with an average of 101 hours lost in traffic jams, compared to 113 hours for the Gironde capital. These figures mark a 30% increase in congestion compared to 2023, although other sources, such as Inrix, estimate the figure to be slightly lower at 97 hours.
The Olympics and the 50 km/h ring road have not made the situation worse
Contrary to fears, the Olympic Games and the lowering of the speed limit on the Paris ring road to 50 km/h in October 2024 have not significantly worsened traffic. According to TomTom, congestion rates in the summer of 2024 were similar to those in 2023, despite the lanes reserved for the Olympics. In addition, the fall even saw a slight improvement in traffic conditions on the ring road, corroborated by a study by the Atelier Parisien d'Urbanisme indicating a 20% drop in traffic jams on this axis compared to the previous year.
Paris remains among the most congested cities in the world
Globally, Paris ranks 6th among the most congested cities, behind Istanbul, New York, and London, with an average speed of 20,8 km/h. The time to travel 10 km in the capital increased by 20 seconds compared to 2023, reaching 28 minutes and 53 seconds. However, this slowdown trend is not unique to Paris: 76% of the cities analyzed around the world saw their average speed decrease in 2024.
