Rome's traffic 'busiest in Italy' but not in world

(ANSA) - Rome, March 31 - Rome was the busiest of all Italian cities in terms of traffic in 2014 with hundreds of hours lost sitting lineups at intersections, according to a report Tuesday by the makers of TomTom navigation technology systems.
    But the Italian capital is not the most hectic in the world - an honour that instead goes to Istanbul, followed by Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, said the TomTom traffic index.
    Among Italian cities, Rome is followed by Milan and Naples in terms of blocked roads, endless queues, and other traffic woes.
    The report was based on data measuring traffic in about 146 cities around the world, including more than 10 trillion measurements added to an enormous data base.
    It concluded that Rome was 13th worst world city for traffic, with the average time to travel a set distance about 38% longer than in more regular traffic.
    It was estimated that every hour in Rome, drivers lose just under 24 minutes to traffic jams. A Rome motorist was estimated to spend about 83 hours of his life in traffic.
    The worst traffic day in Rome last year came on December 19 amid holiday shopping.
    In Milan, October 24 was the busiest traffic day in 2014 due to a general transportation strike.