Expats & Traffic.

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Expats & Traffic.

Postby Royal » Thu May 06, 2010 9:42 am

Expats in Asia face traffic jams on a daily basis
Traffic congestion is the top concern for expats in many Asian cities.


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By Leah Hyslop
05 May 2010

According to a report carried out by ORC Worldwide, a human resources consulting company, expats in Bangalore, Bangkok, Delhi, Istanbul, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo regard traffic as their biggest problem, with many facing congestion every day.

Siobhan Cummins, executive vice president of ORC Worldwide, said: “Driving through congestion is a problem in many cities around the world, and reasons can, of course, vary from place to place. In Asia, however, where many cities are developing, infrastructure is often just too basic to cope with the increasing traffic levels.

“Expats who have moved to these countries can often find this incredibly stressful because they have become used to Western standards which no longer apply.”

The report suggested that in many cities, such as Mumbai, traffic is caused by poorly maintained roads and poor driving standards. However, there are often more complicated causes. Geoffrey W. Latta, executive vice president, said: "For example, ORC's location evaluation report for Tokyo cites roads as being well maintained and traffic rules generally respected. However, the lengthy distance into the city from some suburbs can make driving slow and frustrating."

Some international employers attempt to ease the stress caused by traffic delays by providing a car with a driver for their expatriate workers. However, this was applicable for only a small number of participants in the ORC survey, and varied considerably by region.

In Singapore, just 10.3 per cent of assignees were provided with a driver, and in Tokyo 15.2 per cent. In India, however, the practice is more prevalent, with 61 per cent of expats in Mumbai and 61.5 per cent in Bangalore being driven around. ORC said that hiring drivers was a more common practice in Asia than Europe, where expats lack both knowledge of driving customs and necessary language skills - particularly in the case of an accident.

Ms Cummins added that the other major problem cited by expats in the report was pollution: “In Shanghai for example, 72 per cent of expats saw pollution as the biggest problem, and 63 per cent traffic. In Mumbai, 88 per cent of expats saw traffic as the biggest problem, but this was very closely followed by pollution. Pollution is clearly connected to traffic problems, and makes life abroad often very difficult for expats with health problems, or those who worry about the health of their children.”

ORC’s 2009 Location-Specific Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices surveyed expatriate policies in 26 common expat locations.
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