Cebu voted world’s worst place to be a driver

Think Metro Manila’s traffic is the worst?  Wait till you get to drive around Cebu City, rated in a recent study as  the “worst place in the world to be a driver.”

The Queen City of the South trailed 185 other major cities in transport app Waze’s second Driver Satisfaction Index, which analyzed the driving experience of millions of its users in 38 countries.

Published in the app’s blog on Tuesday, the study took into consideration traffic density and severity, quality of roads and infrastructure, road safety, driver services, social economics, and “wazeyness” or the “happiness and helpfulness of the Waze community.”

The study, which focused on countries and cities with more than 20,000 active Waze users monthly “to ensure data accuracy and fair market comparison,” used a single numeric score from 1 (miserable) to 10 (satisfying).

With a driver satisfaction index of 1.15, Cebu was “ranked as the least satisfying, or the worst place in the world to be a driver,” Waze said in its study.   Cebu, which wasn’t ranked in last year’s study, was followed in the list by Bogor, Indonesia; San Salvador, El Salvador; and Denpasar and Bandung in Indonesia.

Second worst

From having the “worst traffic on earth” last year, Manila ranked 170th this year, while new addition Angeles City in Pampanga province got the 147th spot.

The Philippines, however, was ranked as the second worst place to be a driver.

“El Salvador, the Philippines, Guatemala, Panama and Indonesia are the least satisfying places to drive globally, largely due to intense traffic and low Wazeyness and socioeconomic factors,” Waze said in the study.

Users ranked Cebu’s traffic an abysmal 0.58, while the safety and quality of its roads were rated 2.07 and 2.50, respectively. The city got a “wazeyness” score of 1.35, while its social economics index, which takes into account the impact of gas prices and the ratio of cars to population was rated 0.  No data was provided for the city’s driver services, which include the number of gas stations, car services and parking lots.

As of writing, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has yet to issue a statement on the study.

Emergency powers

The agency recently submitted to the Senate its list of priority projects and programs should Congress grant President Duterte emergency powers to address the traffic crisis in the country.

Apart from the construction of Cebu Rail and Central Philippines Rail, no other concrete projects were proposed to address the traffic situation in Cebu City, which has a population of more than 922,000, making it the fifth most populated city in the country.

For the second time, the Netherlands was considered the most satisfying place in the world to drive in for its “smooth traffic conditions and solid road quality and infrastructure.” It was followed by France, the United States, the Czech Republic and Sweden.

France dominated the list of cities best to drive in, as nine of its metro cities were included in the Top 10. –Jovic Yee