Moscow, Apr 6 (IANS/RIA Novosti): With its notorious traffic jams, the Russian capital has topped a "congestion index" among 161 cities with a population of more than 800,000.

The 2012 Congestion Index was released by Dutch company TomTom, which specialises in GPS navigation technology.

Traffic in the capital makes an average journey 66 percent longer than during off-peak hours. The figure reaches 106 percent during morning rush hour and 138 percent in the evening, according to TomTom's annual report.

On average, Moscow drivers spent 127 hours in traffic jams in 2012.

The Russian capital is followed by Istanbul, Warsaw, Marseilles, Palermo, Los Angeles, Sydney, Stuttgart, Paris and Rome.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has pledged to eliminate the city's traffic jams by increasing the number of parking lots, developing public transport and road construction.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev recently started using a helicopter for his trips to avoid creating more traffic jams in Moscow.