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If you want to be on time for an important meeting or a date in a crowded city like Beijing, it's wise to leave home early.

But just how much time do you need to set aside for traffic congestion?

On Wednesday, the sustainable development strategy research group under the Chinese Academy of Sciences published China's New-Urbanization Report 2012, the fourth annual report focusing on development strategies amid the country's fast urbanization.

In the previous report, researchers used mathematical models to figure out the average time people spend going from home to their workplaces.

But the report immediately triggered controversy because researchers did not count the time spent in traffic congestion. Instead, they were mainly concerned with the distances between residential regions and business regions, and the transportation tools people choose.

This time, the report listed anticipated travel time and actual time spent, and ranked cities accordingly.

Average time wasted in traffic by a passenger in one day is 14 minutes in Beijing, 13 minutes in Tangshan and 12 minutes in Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang, putting these cities at the top of the ranking.

"Traffic congestion in peak hours is a kind of urban disease - as cities expand and people gather into cities, there are serious problems we are facing," said Niu Wenyuan, chief scientist and leader of the sustainable development strategy research group under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In Shanghai, the actual commuting time is 47 minutes on average, with 11 minutes wasted in traffic jams.

On Oct 15, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport reported that the traffic congestion index for September rose 10.3 percent over the same period last year.

Each car in Beijing is banned from traveling inside the Fifth Ring Road on one weekday, depending on the last digit of its license plate.

The commission is now considering restricting 50 percent of cars from the road, which triggered heated debate.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.