traffic jam

Worst Commute in China? Hint: It’s Not Beijing

Hangzhou 1st place for worst "time spent/distance traveled"

Beijing certainly has some world-class gridlock and traffic congestion that has infuriated local drivers with frustratingly long commutes. All the same, recent news that Beijing doesn’t have the worst commute in major cities in China isn’t likely to dull the pain of capital commuters.

CCTV news cited a Baidu Map database to report that Beijing has the longest commute in China for both distance and time, clocking in at an average of 18.9 kilometers and taking 50 minutes to complete. As well, Beijing roads are among the most congested in the country, with traffic on the East 3rd Ring Road only moving at an average of 22.6 kilometers per hour. It’s also the most congested road in the city.

Guangzhou has the next longest commute in China among major cities at an average of 18 kilometers requiring 40 minutes to complete, according to the report. Guangzhou also has the distinction of having the most congested road in China, Zhongshanliu Road, whereby traffic crawls along at an average of 15.5 kilometers per hour.

Shanghai comes next, named as having the third-longest commute at 18 kilometers, requiring 40 minutes to complete.

A 2015 report from another Baidu database named Beijing as the worst commute in China for clocking in at 52 minutes and 19.2 kilometers long, revealing that some commuters from out of town were traveling as much as 50 kilometers a day just to get to to work. Meanwhile another report last year said the average daily congestion time in Beijing is an hour and 55 minutes.

But while cities like Beijing seem designed to welcome long commutes due to urban sprawl and its way of urban planning, the worst commute doesn’t belong to the capital, but to Hangzhou.

It may seem strange to give top position to a smaller-scale city in which commutes take only half the average commuting time of Beijing at 24 minutes. However, the average distance a driver commutes is a paltry 8.7 kilometers, making Hangzhou the “least effective” commute.

On the flip side, Guangzhou gets the honor of having the “most effective” commute among major Chinese cities for allowing drivers to travel 18 kilometers in just 40 minutes.

Charles Liu

The Nanfang's Senior Editor