By Pat Scanlon, Traffic Attorney
You may think cities in some Asian metropolises would have the world’s highest traffic congestion. Well, you may be surprised to find out that these cities are no match to some in Europe, South America, and the United States. According to a study by traffic management company INREX, London and Chicago are the top cities with the highest traffic congestion, with New York City listed as number eight.
These cities have some of the most crowded traffic jams and many individuals view the time spent in slow or bumper to bumper traffic as a waste of time. This challenging commute explains why many are reluctant to physically travel to their workplace. New York City currently has a congestion pricing policy in the works where cars and trucks will be forbidden to enter between 34th Street and 59th Street across Midtown Manhattan. The proposal is to alleviate traffic congestion in this area but is coming under contentious and heated opposition.
It’s Not All That Bad!
Experts argue that traffic congestion can indicate a robust economy, as it suggests increased spending. In January, the geolocation technology company TomTom unveiled its annual Traffic Index for 2023, ranking U.S. cities based on time, cost, and Co2 emissions per mile driven. The assessment simulated the duration of a six-mile trip within a city for typical electric and diesel cars.
California is the only state with two cities in the top 10: San Francisco and Los Angeles. Despite its notorious traffic, Los Angeles secured the No. 9 spot, while San Francisco landed in the top three.
Not surprisingly, the TomTom report cites New York City as the most congested metropolis in the U.S. On average, commuters spent 24 minutes and 50 seconds covering about six miles in 2023, marking a 20-second increase from 2022. Commuters who travel by car in the city experienced the lengthiest delays during rush-hour traffic jams, averaging one hour for a typical six-minute trip.
Traffic Congestion Top List
Below is the list of the top 10 U.S. cities with the worst traffic:
- New York City
- Washington, D.C.
- San Francisco
- Boston
- Chicago
- Baltimore
- Seattle
- Philadelphia
- Los Angeles
- Miami
Washington, D.C., claimed the second spot on the list, with an average travel time of 21 minutes and 20 seconds for a six-mile drive. Commuters in the U.S. capital lost 86 hours to rush-hour traffic in 2023, making D.C. the third most congested city in a separate TomTom ranking, with an average loss of 5 minutes and 37 seconds due to traffic for a six-mile trip.
A View of Now and the Future
Traveling by car to work can be no easy task if you live in a big town, and even if you don’t, you can still find yourself in a ‘parking lot’ situation in the suburbs and some rural areas. If you have ever driven on the Long Island Expressway or the Southern State Parkway during rush hour, you know about this experience.
Having an electric vehicle may reduce some of the stress, knowing that all this stop-and-go traffic is not wasting your money on gas, but your time spent in traffic congestion is no different than that in conventional gas vehicles.
More than anyone, those who live in the cities know too well that traffic jams are a fact of life. Although things may change for the better in the future as artificial intelligence plays a role in helping to reduce this congestion, things can get more complicated, such as congestion pricing in Manhattan. One can only wonder how this will affect traffic when it becomes a reality!