Study Reveals Cities With Worst Traffic Congestion; U.S. Well-Represented

Companies worldwide are developing technologies and concepts with hopes of making commutes both quicker and safer. But as it stands today, traffic congestion is a problem that’s as frustrating as it is real.

A new study conducted by INRIX ranked 1,064 cities around the world using various traffic-related statistics, and found eight of the 20 most-congested cities are in the U.S. One of the key metrics used to quantify traffic congestion is the amount of hours motorists spend in jams.

Commuters in Los Angeles reportedly spent 104.1 hours in traffic jams in 2016, the most of any city by a wide margin. Moscow’s drivers spent the second-most time in their cars with 91.4 hours.

The seven other U.S. cities that appeared in the top 20 were New York (3), San Francisco (4), Atlanta (9), Miami (11), District of Columbia (15), Dallas (16), Boston (18) and Chicago (19).

The study, which INRIX says is the largest of its kind, includes cities from 38 countries.

Dublin is the slowest major city, with commuters averaging 3.4 mph during peak hours. In London, traffic congestion cost the city’s commuters an average of $2,013 last year.

It’s not just major cities that are seeing heavy traffic in the U.S., though. According to the study, U.S. citizens spent an hour stuck in traffic each week during 2016.

Thumbnail photo via Flickr/Jeff Turner