Beijing the fourth traffic-heavy city in China: report

The cities of Yinchuan, Jinan, and Luoyang experienced the largest number of traffic jams in the first quarter of this year, while the capital Beijing came in at fourth place, according to a report published by digital map service provider Amap.

The Spring Festival travel rush and bad weather conditions contributed to traffic congestion in these cities.

Vehicles are stuck in slow moving traffic during rush hour in Beijing on Wednesday, January 17, 2018. [Photo: IC]

The report shows that about 18 percent of cities surveyed were severely affected by traffic jams in the first quarter of the year, 64 percent were moderately affected, and 18 percent were found to have smooth traffic flows.

Almost 60 percent of cities in China experienced the same or less traffic congestion compared with the same period last year, which suggests that local government efforts to ease traffic congestion were having a positive effect, according to the report.

This map shows differences in the level of traffic congestion in Chinese cities. Red represents severe congestion. Orange and yellow are for moderate congestion. And green is for cities that generally have a smooth flow of traffic. [Screenshot: China Plus]

First-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen dropped in the rankings of the most congested cities. But congestion was found to be worsening in medium and large-sized cities.