Study shows KL drivers lost 159 hours and RM1,023 in fuel to peak hour traffic, could have read 31 books instead

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — Do you think driving to work and getting stuck in traffic jams in Kuala Lumpur is a waste of time? Time that could be better spent doing other things such as reading books?

Here's what digital mapping company TomTom has found: Drivers in Kuala Lumpur would have lost 159 hours last year on the road during peak hours in the city centre, which could have been used to read 31 books instead.

Out of the 159 hours lost on the road, almost half, or 75 hours of it was due to traffic jams.

You would also have had to spend RM1,023 on petrol for these peak hour trips on your vehicle last year, with about one-fifth or RM221 due to traffic jams.

You would also have had to grow 83 trees over a year to offset or absorb the 833kg of carbon dioxide emitted by your petrol-guzzling car during those peak hours, with 180kg of such carbon dioxide emissions resulting from traffic jams alone.

In other words, because of traffic jams, Kuala Lumpur drivers would have spent an extra nine minutes more driving per 10km trip during the morning rush hour, and 12 minutes more during the evening rush hour.

TomTom's calculations are based on the assumption of Kuala Lumpur drivers making a 10 km trip during the busiest hour in the morning and cover the same distance during the busiest hour in the evening, and totalled up over an assumed 230 working days per year.

On weekdays, the busiest hour for driving in Kuala Lumpur's city centre in the morning would be the 8am to 9am slot (ranging from 18 minutes to 21 minutes), and the 6pm to 7pm slot in the evening (ranging from over 22 minutes to over 25 minutes).

TomTom's data showed that the worst rush hour in the week in Kuala Lumpur would typically fall on Thursdays during the 6pm to 7pm slot, where it would take 25 minutes 20 seconds on average to drive 10km in the city centre area.

What if you were to spend just one day of each week working from home — particularly Thursdays? TomTom's data showed that Kuala Lumpur's drivers would then have saved 35 hours and RM203 in petrol costs per year.

If they were to have worked from home for three days (every Tuesday to Thursday), they would have saved 104 hours and RM609 in petrol costs per year.

For more on travelling in Kuala Lumpur during rush hours, including how much money it costs drivers during peak hours using diesel vehicles and how much time is spent on the road on longer work commutes of 11km up to 50km, visit the TomTom site.

Based on the TomTom Traffic Index's 2022 ranking of 389 cities across 56 countries, drivers making 10km trips during both the morning and evening rush hours in the city centre would have spent the most time on the road in London at 325 hours last year.

In comparison to Kuala Lumpur drivers spending 159 hours on the road in peak hours in the city centre last year, Singapore drivers would have spent slightly less time at 150 hours. Drivers in Manila would have spent 241 hours, while those in Jakarta and Bangkok would have spent 214 hours and 192 hours respectively.