An integral part of every complaint about life in the capital, traffic jams in Athens are a fundamental part of the life of every Athenian and Athenian who is “fortunate enough” to use the road surface for movement. However, as you know, not all days and roads are the same. Sunday is a fantastic day for driving (and cycling) as the roads are empty and quiet and you get where you want to go on time. On the other hand, weekdays at 8 a.m. and also in the afternoons are “hell” on four wheels, when the roads are filled with cars, and delays at crossings are the rule rather than the exception.

4th worst metropolitan area in Europe

Given the busyness of the tomtom website, Athens is on 25th in the world out of 390 cities in the sample, while 12th in Europe for city center trafficwith a position reverting to 4th in Europe when analyzed at the metropolitan level. Thus, it seems that unlike other cities whose traffic problems are in their center, in Athens delays spread throughout the basin.

Data traffic analysis

Taking Attica traffic data from data.gov to period from February 2022 to February 2023analyzed average speed vehicles per day and hour on the central thoroughfares of the basin to illustrate what time traffic is slowest in the city. By calculating the average weekly speed and comparing it with the average hourly speed on each road, one can roughly estimate the probability of delays and the level of congestion along the entire length of the road.

The rhythm of life and work determines the movement

Daily commuting from work to home exacerbates traffic congestion. At 8 am we have a sudden “wave” of delays, and at noon and especially at 3 pm a second “wave” is recorded, which, however, persists until 6 pm on several roads. Although not every day is the same. OUR Sunday rather, it’s a “shoemaker” as the speeds are noted to be markedly better than the rest of the workweek. After the weekend on a Monday, there can be various fluctuations in traffic, with bursts and lulls on different occasions.

From Tuesday to Friday the greatest decrease in speed is observed on the main highways, in some cases by 15 km/h and above the average weekly speed on them. Some roads, especially those with more traffic lights, see more reduction as cars move slower, while others, like Athens Avenue and Kifissos, look better than others due to more – relatively – constant vehicle traffic. .

Commenting on the phenomenon of two time waves in the morning and afternoon, Mr. Konstantinos Kepaptsoglu, Associate Professor, Transport Engineering Laboratory, National Technical University of Athens states that “we all go to work at about the same time in the morning. From the 8th to the 9th, a large number of workers move, but they usually return in waves, as these movements are combined with others that may have a different purpose. Therefore, the morning wave is very saturated, unlike the daytime one. This is a common phenomenon that we see all over the world.”

Is Kifissos “hell on earth”?

The main north-south axis in Athens, Kifissos, is filled with cars every morning and noon, and for many, this is the worst road they have to travel on every day. Answering the question whether Kifissos can really be called the worst avenue or is there a specific street that can be called “worst”, the professor comments. “There is no worse road. The problem is more global and the phenomenon is much more complicated than the problematic road. The road is problematic in terms of traffic mainly because more people use it than it can handle. Kifissos has been exceeding his endurance for many years.”

Improvement through avoidance

The only way to improve traffic in the capital in general and Kifissos in particular is to reduce the use of cars. “Let’s stop taking our car. There is no other way. If we build two more lanes in Kifissos, he will have the same problem. This is Braes’s paradox, that is, even if you improve the road under some conditions, you will have even worse conditions. The solution is not to have more power, because it also costs us, and there is no guarantee that it will do the job we want. The solution is to make the most of other means. Unfortunately, there is no magical way to unlock Kifissos.”

However, using other means or avoiding day trips entirely can bring significant benefits to both drivers and the environment. According to tomtom, if someone works from home on the day with the worst traffic, which in this website’s index is Wednesday, they will save 171 euros per year on gasoline, while avoiding 195 kg of carbon dioxide emissions and “come back”. 45 hours of life to be wasted in traffic.