Traffic app Waze names Cebu as ‘worst city to drive in’

A Philippine city was tagged as the “worst city to drive in” by Waze, a popular traffic and navigating app used by cab drivers and commuters.

Cebu City, the Philippines’ “Queen City of the South,” placed at the bottom spot among 186 cities included in Waze’s second annual Driver Satisfaction Index. “On the other end of the spectrum, Cebu, Philippines, ranked as least satisfying, or the worst place in the world to be a driver,” the app’s blog post read.

Aside from Cebu city, other bustling Philippine cities burdened with devastating traffic jams performed poorly in the survey: Pampanga’s Angeles City ranked 147th, while Metro Manila leaped to the 170th spot.

Other global cities tagged as worst cities for drivers are San Salvador in El Salvador, Cali in Colombia and Johannesburg in South Africa. Several Indonesian cities are mentioned in the list, including Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Bogor and Denpasar.

The post elucidated, “And where is it tough 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 socio-economic factors.”

Among 38 nations, the Philippines was placed second to the lowest, only next to El Salvador. In 2015, the Philippines was placed at the 9th spot in the same study by the traffic app.

On the other hand, eight out of the 10 “best cities to drive in” are located in France: Valence, Tours, Lemans, Saint-Etienne, Avignon, Reims, Nimes, Douai-Lens and Orleans were hailed by Waze for its “satisfying driving experience, good-quality roads, low gas prices and traffic, and a helpful Waze community.” Also, Greensboro in North Carolina, United States, ranked fifth in the global survey.

Netherlands was crowned as the best country to drive in, the survey wrapped up. It was followed by France, the US and the Czech Republic.

The study is based on the driving experience of 20,000 app users in 38 countries and 235 urban cities. It was analyzed by six factors:

• Traffic – Density and severity
• Quality – Road quality and infrastructure
• Road Safety – Density of accidents, road hazards and weather
• Driver Services – Access to gas stations and easy parking
• Socio-Economic – Access to cars and impact of gas prices
• Wazeyness – Happiness and helpfulness of the Waze community (as measured by reports “thanked” by other drivers and driver moods selected within the app)

The findings of Waze Driver Satisfaction Index can be accessed here.  Gianna Francesca Catolico