Ranked: Worst Cities For Rush Hour Traffic Worldwide

Kayla Zhu
2024-09-29 16:26:21
www.visualcapitalist.com

Worst Global Cities For Traffic 2023

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Traffic congestion costs drivers around the world hours of lost time and economic productivity.

Traffic can serve as an economic indicator, as the flow of people, goods, and services drives the demand for road travel, reflecting underlying economic activity. But when this demand surpasses the available road capacity, it leads to congestion, time lost in traffic, and often rising frustration.

This chart shows the 15 worst cities around the world for traffic congestion in 2023, ranked by the average number of hours lost to traffic congestion per driver when driving during peak commute hours compared to driving during off-peak hours in 2023.

Data comes from the INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard 2023.

Which Cities Have The Worst Traffic?

Below, we show the 15 cities around the world with the worst rush hour traffic, as measured by hours lost to traffic congestion during peak commute hours in 2023.

Rank	Urban Area	Country	Hours lost to traffic in 2023 (Per driver)
1	New York City, NY	USA	101
2	London	UK	99
3	Paris	FRA	97
4	Mexico City	MEX	96
5	Chicago, IL	USA	96
6	Istanbul	TUR	91
7	Los Angeles, CA	USA	89
8	Boston, MA	USA	88
9	Cape Town	ZAF	83
10	Houston, TX	USA	83
11	Brisbane	AUS	74
12	Dublin	IRL	72
13	Miami, FL	USA	70
14	Philadelphia, PA	USA	69
15	Rome	ITA	69

In 2023, drivers in New York had it the worst. On average, drivers in The Big Apple lost 101 hours to traffic jams in 2023, costing more than $1,700 in lost time and productivity. In the U.S., traffic delays cost the typical driver more than $733 in lost time, or $70 billion nationwide in 2023 according to INRIX.

Most of the cities struggling with the worst traffic congestion are some of their respective countries’ largest economic hubs including: New York, London, Paris, Mexico City, Rome, Istanbul, and Cape Town.

These economic centers are characterized by large populations, a high density of businesses, and significant daily commuter traffic.

In 2003, the city of London introduced the Congestion Charge, which charges cars being driven within the Congestion Charge Zone in central London during specific hours £15 a day. Drivers who don’t pay the Congestion Charge are fined £160.

Last year the city of London shared the results of the Congestion Charge, with the city’s traffic congestion having fallen by 30% while boosting public transport use along with walking and cycling.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To see which cities in the U.S. had it the worst, check out this graphic that visualizes the 15 U.S. cities with the worst rush hour traffic.

The post Ranked: Worst Cities For Rush Hour Traffic Worldwide appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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