ADAC traffic jam report 2024: Germany ticket prevents worse things happening

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According to ADAC figures, there were slightly more traffic jams and gridlock on German freeways in 2024 compared to the previous year. According to the figures, there were around 516,000 traffic jams, compared to 504,000 in 2023. Converted into hours, the traffic observers arrive at 448,000 compared to 427,000, an increase of 21,000 hours or five percent compared to 2023.

Statements of this kind are made possible by the position and speed signals from the smartphones carried in the cars. The ADAC defines a traffic jam as when the flow of traffic falls below 20 km/h for a certain period of time and is one kilometer or longer. The counting of hours is not based on the number of hours waited per driver, but rather evaluates how long a traffic jam lasts until it breaks up.

More, but shorter traffic jams

Looking at the length of traffic jams gives a total of 859,000 kilometers, corresponding to a decrease of 18,000. So there were more traffic jams, but they were shorter. The ADAC balance shows a slight deterioration. The value for the duration – is still below the values of the pre-pandemic year 2019, even with a slightly changed methodology –.

The main reasons given by the association were that not only was there four percent more driving, there were also more roadworks on the freeways. The prospects of an improvement in the near future are already clouded by the fact that more than 4,000 highway bridges will soon have to be replaced. Meanwhile, – unsurprisingly – there are also more and more unexpected problems due to the long-delayed renewal of the highway infrastructure. The ADAC cites the unplanned closure of the Rahmede viaduct with around 5,000 traffic jams and almost 4,000 hours of congestion on the A45 last year as a glaring example.

Great merit of the Deutschlandticket

Despite the additional roadworks and the increase in traffic volume, there was roughly the same amount of congestion during rush hours compared to 2023. The ADAC sees this as a major achievement of the Deutschlandticket, which now has 13 million users, mainly commuters, and helps to relieve traffic congestion. It calls for the continuation of this successful measure to ease traffic congestion on the roads. At the same time, the association is appealing to politicians to finally introduce concrete measures to sustainably renovate the trunk road infrastructure. The ADAC does not provide an offsetting calculation of the economic costs and damage caused by traffic jams.

North Rhine-Westphalia is worst affected by traffic jams. 31.5 percent or around 270,000 kilometers of traffic jams were counted there. Bavaria follows at a distance, with 16.4 percent or around 141,000 kilometers, while Baden-Württemberg ranks third with 104,000 kilometers. The duration of the traffic jams is similarly distributed across these three federal states. To calculate the effect of the different sizes of freeway networks, the ADAC also gives the number of hours of congestion per kilometer. The city states come out on top here, with 202 for Berlin, 180 for Hamburg and 102 for Bremen. In the territorial states, NRW leads (again) with 69, followed by Baden-Württemberg with 46.

Neuralgic times

Broken down by time, Wednesday and Thursday are the weekdays with the most congestion, while Mondays and weekends are the least congested. Commuter traffic generates the most congestion at its peak times between 6 and 9 a.m. and 2 and 6 p.m., and on Fridays at midday and in the early afternoon.

As was often the case in previous years, vacation traffic at Whitsun was also a critical time in 2024: the most congested day with around 2,500 hours of congestion and a total length of 5,200 kilometers fell on 17 May, the Friday before Whitsun. The day before Ascension Day is also in a notorious phase. This was on May 8 in 2024. With around 2300 hours and just under 5000 kilometers, it took second place in the congestion rankings. The days before Corpus Christi, German Unity Day and the Friday before the start of the summer vacations in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland are also notoriously congested.

(fpi)