You can arm yourself with an iPod full of movies, install fine leather seats and satellite radio, and convince yourself some poor sap has a commute worse than yours.Except that isn't likely to improve it.
Chances are, those traveling to work in Hong Kong, Berlin and Osaka, Japan, don't need to adopt such tactics. That's because their commutes are among the world's most reliable, cheap and efficient
The dense cluster of jobs on Hong Kong Island makes it possible for 90% of residents to commute on public transit. Osaka's high-speed rail connects it to the suburbs of Kobe and Kyoto, and Berliners, who rely heavily on bicycles, have few traffic problems compared with residents of cities like New York or Rome.
Dakar, Senegal, London and Chennai, India, also make the list.
Behind the Numbers
We compiled our rankings using data and research supplied by Jeffrey Kenworthy, a transportation professor at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. He measured the world's 84 largest cities on the following criteria: the cost to the consumer and the government, overall investment in improvements, and the speed and safety with which workers are delivered to offices.
Scores were adjusted for gross domestic product, which allowed developing cities like Dakar or Krakow, Poland, to compete with cities from highly developed G8 nations.
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Dense cities perform particularly well by our measures. There are only 8,000 full-time residents in the City of London, but there are 320,000 jobs there, according to the City of London Economic Development Office. That sort of commercial density makes the London rail system a very efficient mechanism for delivering people to their offices. The Tube, which is the world's largest urban railway, and commuter trains efficiently move people in and out of the city, whereas cars in such a small space would overwhelm the system.
The speed of transit not only benefits commuters; it contributes to a city's economic competitiveness. Outsourcing capitals like Chennai, which are heavily reliant on attracting informational technology companies, do well on our list due to the city's high investment rate in projects like the IT highway, and its MSRT mass transit rail system.
"Ease of urban mobility is a prerequisite for business to reach supplies and customers," says Maria Krautzberger, permanent secretary of the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development. "Cities cannot secure their position in global networks otherwise."
The problem, however, is paying for those sorts of infrastructure improvements.
"When you add to taxation in order to pay for improvements, it makes the citizenry less competitive, compared to another city because of the tax burden," says Francine Senecal, vice chair of the City of Montreal's Executive Committee. At the Metropolis Conference in Sydney, Australia, last week, a meeting of private and public funding bodies, she pointed to the need for public/private partnerships in infrastructure development, a joint investment in roads, or works projects.
"Public-private partnerships allows the public sector more maneuverability because they don't have to increase the tax burden," she says. "Though obviously regulation is very important."
Seoul, Korea, for example, relies on a $2.5 billion Macquarie investment fund to spend on transportation and infrastructure improvements, while cities in India have sought market funding in the form of investment-grade municipal bonds for $302 billion in improvements over the next five years.
Of course, each city's traits come into play. Berlin's compact nature and commitment to bicycle lanes have made riding to work a popular option. According to the city government, 13% of all traffic is bicycle traffic, which keeps transit costs low for residents on the whole, and alleviates road traffic for drivers because there are fewer cars on the road.
And in Houston, jobs and population are so spread out that a relatively complex train system is needed. The city government has proposed between $3 billion and $7.5 billion of light rail improvements since 2003, though little has been done to successfully alleviate mounting traffic, which consistently ranks the city towards the bottom of our U.S. commute lists.
In the end, though, a poor commute is "a relative concept," says Nathan Rees, premier of New South Wales, Australia. "It's like being in love. If you think you are love, you are in love. If you think you are in traffic, you are in traffic."
1. Hong Kong, China
This is one of the densest and geographically smallest cities in the world. Jobs are highly concentrated on Hong Kong Island (only 31 square miles), which is connected to the rest of the districts by rail, bus and ferry systems that are used by 90% of residents, according to Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Existing infrastructure is set to improve by 2010, when the Chinese government completes its massive overhaul of the Pearl River Delta rail system, which will connect Hong Kong and Shanzhen to the western bank of the Pearl River Delta and Guangzhou.
2. Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo's railway line is an efficient way to get around the mega-city, once you get used to the small seats and train employees pushing people into the cars for better use of space. The high-speed rail lines that connect the outer parts of the city to the city center are emulated all over the world. Like any city, it has its traffic problems on the roadways. But technological innovations in traffic monitoring that lead to real-time information updates on road signs, as well as ubiquitous individual GPS systems, help manage auto traffic.
3. Chennai, India
Chennai's transit system is highly planned as the result of its standing as a tech and outsourcing hub, and it is relatively easy to manage given its population of 5 million. Chennai's status as a port city (which requires rail logistics and has led to mass public rail systems like the MSRT) and the high influx of planned campuses for informational technology (which results in multilane highways like the IT highway) have improved mobility to commercial areas.
4. Dakar, Senegal
In Dakar, there is a high percentage of residents who walk or bicycle to work, which puts little pressure on the remaining infrastructure and keeps the cost to the system, and it energy expenditure, low. As a result, those working in the central business district aren't caught in gridlocks as much.
5. Osaka, Japan
Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto are often considered part of the Greater Osaka area. Commuter trains and high-speed rail are critical in connecting the larger geographic area. There are 17 million people in the metropolitan area, but the city of Osaka's transportation authority estimates that 10 million people use railway or underground subway on a daily basis.
6. London, England
London's overall transit system is well designed and maintained because it is suited for the city's distribution of jobs and population. The City of London has only 8,000 people and 320,000 jobs, according to the City of London Economic Development Office. The Tube, which is the world's largest urban railway, as well as commuter trains efficiently move people in and out of the city, whereas cars in such a small space would overwhelm the system.
7. Beijing, China
The city of Beijing estimates that $10 billion was spent to improve transportation infrastructure--both roads and transit lines--in advance of last summer's Beijing Olympics. As Beijing continues to develop and consolidate outlying economic zones such as Tianjin, rail and travel logistics will be a major priority of the local government.
8. Mumbai, India
One thing working in Mumbai's favor is its density: Suburban rail lines connect the outer suburbs to the business district. Mumbai has been particularly aggressive with investment-grade bonds to improve infrastructure, as well as developing public/private partnerships to enhance service and efficiency.
9. Krakow, Poland
Krakow benefits from its status as a relatively small city. With only 750,000 people in the city and 1.25 million in the metro area, it is one of the smallest spots assessed in these rankings, and, unlike many parts of the world, it hasn't been rapidly urbanizing over the past decade. As a result, the city's investments in improving rail systems and road systems have gone further than in budding mega-cities in other emerging markets. Its small size and density also makes the bus system an efficient and cheap method of transit.
10. Berlin, Germany
Berlin's compact layout and commitment to bicycle lanes have made riding to work a popular option. According to the city government, 13% of all traffic is by bicycle, which keeps transit costs low for residents on the whole, and alleviates road traffic for drivers because there are fewer cars on the road.
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