Wellington tops Auckland for highest number of driving stop-starts per year

The latest research from Castrol and TomTom, a leading provider of navigation and location-based products and services based in Amsterdam, has revealed that drivers in Wellington, New Zealand, could experience an average of 9,480 stop-starts a year, surprisingly beating the average of Auckland drivers, despite the fact that Auckland has more than three times the population and has more traffic congestion than New Zealand’s capital Wellington.
Auckland drivers were found to experience an average of 9,360 stop-starts per year.
The study was carried out for Castrol by TomTom, using information from its satellite navigation systems on vehicles in 50 cities worldwide. The goal was to highlight the pressures that changing driving conditions place on vehicles across the globe.
Other cities in the study include Beijing with 28,200 stop-starts, London with 21,000, New York with 15,480, and Sydney with 13,200. Stop-start driving can increase microscopic wear in car engines. Castrol’s studies have shown that even a normal driver can experience as many as 18,000 stop-starts every year.
According to Castrol engineers, frequent stop-starts can cause increased wear to a car engine. The number of stop-starts reflect the driving conditions and situations drivers are facing in each market. These results show the size of the stop-start problem and indicate that precautions are necessary, one of the reasons why Castrol commissioned this study.
The project highlights stop-start driving, including traffic, urbanization, and short journeys experienced in each area. Data from vehicles and trips within a region and time span was aggregated by TomTom, total driven kilometers and total number of stops calculated, and an average number of stops per driven kilometer per region derived.
According to Gareth Bracchi, senior development technologist at Castrol, the numbers of stop-starts per year far exceeded the company’s initial expectations.
“The results from the Index are fascinating and working with Castrol to produce the Index has been very revealing,” said Ralf-Peter Schäfer, head of traffic at TomTom. “Istanbul’s highest stop rate among the big cities corresponds to its very high congestion level, followed by Moscow and Mexico City, certainly founded by heavy daily congestion as well. Traveling in Rotterdam however goes along with the lowest stop rate as the city has moderate congestion.”
To check out the Castrol MAGNATEC STOP-START Index report to see where your local city stands globally, visit the Castrol Stop Start Index.
(October 4, 2013)