INRIX Inc., a leader in transportation data and analytics, released its 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard and found that ten United States cities made the top 25 worst congested cities in the world.
Approximately 1,000 cities across 37 countries were ranked, and while Istanbul topped the ranking with 105 hours lost to congestion, New York City and Chicago came after with 102 hours lost to congestion.
“Every year since 2020, we’ve seen traffic gradually rise towards what it was pre-pandemic,” said Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at INRIX and author of the 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard. “While the U.S. is still behind pre-2020 levels of traffic, a pullback of remote and hybrid work models, specifically in tech-heavy areas like San Jose, San Francisco, and Seattle, brought a large jump in downtown trips, which is a good sign for metropolitan economies. The data also shows more economic activity Saturday and Sunday evenings as the downtown core returns to life.”
New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles (88 hours) are the most congested cities in the U.S., costing drivers $1,826 and $1,575 respectively.
The country’s biggest increase in traffic congestion came from 15th-ranked Denver, where residents saw a 19% increase in traffic delay compared to 2023.
Overall, congestion resulted in drivers losing an average of 43 hours to traffic jams in 2024, equal to about one work week, costing $771 in lost time and productivity. Nationwide, this sums to more than four billion hours lost, costing $74 billion in lost time.
Source: INRIX
