"I've been on a treadmill before on my work phone, doing barrier options," said Nick Fowler, 33, a British man who moved to the United Arab Emirates two years ago. "It can get a bit ridiculous sometimes."
07.01.2025 - 21:15 / travelpulse.com / Bob Pishue / Laurie Baratti
INRIX, Inc., a prominent transportation data and analytics company, has just released its 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard, which analyzed and ranked congestion and commuting patterns in nearly 1,000 cities across 37 nations around the world. The results indicate that traffic congestion has surged across major cities as workers return to offices and weekend activities increase.
A striking ten American cities were named among the top 25 most congested urban areas globally. New York City and Chicago emerged as the worst in the country, tying for second place worldwide, with drivers losing 102 hours in traffic annually. Istanbul claimed the top spot with commuters stuck for 105 hours. Los Angeles trailed closely behind the U.S. leaders, with its drivers enduring 88 hours of gridlock. The country’s biggest jump in congestion came from Denver, which ranked 15th, which showed a 19 percent increase in daily traffic compared with 2023.
“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.”
The report estimates that, on average, Americans lost 43 hours to traffic jams over the course of the year, equating to roughly one full workweek. The financial toll of these delays amounted to $771 per driver in lost time and productivity. In the most congested cities like New York and Chicago, that figure climbed to over $1,800 per driver. Nationally, the cumulative time spent idling in traffic totaled over four billion hours, costing the U.S. economy $74 billion.
One of the key takeaways from the scorecard is the revival of city centers, spurred by both returning office workers and a boom in leisure activities. Nine out of the ten largest U.S. metro areas recorded a rise in trips to downtown, with Houston experiencing the largest increase at 25 percent. Chicago followed with a 13 percent rise, while Dallas and Atlanta saw growth of 12 percent and 10 percent respectively.
Weekends, particularly Saturday and Sunday evenings, saw the biggest jumps in traffic, with a 13 percent increase year-over-year. Friday was the busiest day overall in terms of trips throughout the day.
Delays on the nation’s most crowded roadways remain one of the most unpredictable congestion metrics. Roads in Stamford, Connecticut took three of the top
"I've been on a treadmill before on my work phone, doing barrier options," said Nick Fowler, 33, a British man who moved to the United Arab Emirates two years ago. "It can get a bit ridiculous sometimes."
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