What Cities Have the Worst Traffic?
According to a new study, drivers in the 10 worst cities for traffic spend anywhere from 30 to 58 hours a year trapped in their cars going exactly nowhere. Are you one of them?
Traffic information and app company INRIX recently analyzed the GPS data from 100 million personal and commercial vehicles, finding that people who live in the most traffic-clogged cities sit idle on the road for an average of 40 hours annually.
Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco ranked as the worst, and that’s even when you consider they’re the cities that have also seen the biggest drops in traffic congestion, most likely due to high gas prices.
The good news is that other snarled areas, including Tampa, Houston and Austin, have been spending more time stuck in traffic because their local economies are booming — and robust job growth means more people driving to work.
After factoring in population and the total number of roads, here are the top 10 worst cities for inpatient drivers, along with how much time you’ll likely spend twiddling your thumbs while behind the wheel every year:
1. Honolulu — 58 hours
2. Los Angeles — 56 hours
3. San Francisco — 48 hours
4. New York — 57 hours
5. Bridgeport, Conn. — 42 hours
6. Washington, DC — 45 hours
7. Seattle — 33 hours
8. Austin — 30 hours
9. Boston — 35 hours
10. Chicago — 36 hours
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