2025 Traffic Index: Bucharest, Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca and Iasi, the cities with the most congested traffic, in 2025

The 2025 Traffic Index, an analysis conducted by the Institute for Visionary Cities, provides an overview of traffic in Romania’s county capitals and identifies urban mobility patterns. The index compares how much traffic slows down on working days compared to free-flow conditions, across the 41 county capitals and Bucharest.   According to the analysis, small cities such as Resita, Giurgiu, and Calarasi have the most fluid traffic. At the opposite end, Bucharest remains an outlier, with congestion losses equivalent to more than 12 working days per year for an average driver – more than half of the legal annual leave.   The report also shows that the traditional “rush hour” pattern has changed. Cities are no longer blocked only when people go to and leave work, but also in the middle of the day, when fragmented daily activities create prolonged congestion. Data was collected between March and June 2025, Monday to Friday, between 07:00 and 20:00 – the hours when people travel the most within the city. To establish a “free-flow” reference point, speeds recorded on Sunday mornings between 07:00 and 08:00 were used. This is the lowest-traffic time nationwide, providing a comparable and repeatable benchmark for all cities.   Traffic is one of the 51 indicators analysed by the CITY INDEX urban performance barometer, which will be fully launched at the end of October 2025. Unsurprisingly, small cities lead the ranking for fluid mobility. Resita, Giurgiu, and Calarasi take the top three spots: a resident here loses only 3–3.5 working days per year to traffic congestion, confirming that the small size of these cities ensures constant and efficient mobility.   The 2025 analysis also highlights some spectacular jumps compared to last year’s Index. Oradea climbs 17 places compared to 2024, while Alba Iulia and Bistrita each gain eight positions. Resita, which consolidates its first-place ranking, also moves up six places compared to last year.   “The fact that Resita is now in first place in the Traffic Index shows that the investments and decisions taken in recent years are paying off. Completion of the tram line works and resumption of tram services have significantly reduced pressure on private cars. Road infrastructure modernisation projects have eased traffic on main arteries. All these are concrete steps through which Resita is becoming a friendlier, more efficient city, closer to the European standards we aspire to,” said Ioan Popa, Mayor of Resita.   Oradea’s spectacular leap is also confirmed and explained by local authorities. “Oradea’s smoother traffic is the result of major investments made in the past two years – from opening eight underpasses and widening Calea Aradului boulevard, to the partial implementation of the intelligent traffic light system, the connection of the ring road to the A3 motorway at Biharia, and its extension into neighbouring communes,” said Sebastian Marchis, Technical Director at Oradea City Hall.