Commuters in several of the nation’s metro areas now endure some of the most crowded highways on the planet.
Jim Gorzelany is a veteran automotive journalist.Motorists living in or around Chicago suffer the worst traffic tie-ups in the nation according to a just-released report.With the COVID-19 pandemic in our collective rearview mirrors, and employees – however begrudgingly – settled back into a daily trek to and from the workplace, crippling traffic jams are once again a way of life for commuters in the largest U.
S. metropolitan areas. According to the just-released 2025 Global Traffic Scorecard compiled by the transportation analytics provider, the average driver in the U.S. loses 49 hours annually sitting in traffic. That’s an increase of six hours per commuter over the past year, and amounts to $894 in what could otherwise be productivity and/or leisure time wasted behind the wheel. All told that comes out and an estimated 4.7 billion hours of lost time due to roadway delays. INRIX’s report found that those living in or near Chicago, where the average commuter loses the most time in the nation – 112 hours – sitting in traffic, which is about two weeks’ worth of eight-hour workdays and represents an estimated $2,063 in lost time. The only global metro area that beats the Windy City in this regard is Istanbul, Turkey, with an average 118 hours lost in traffic, which is a whopping 30% increase over the last two years. In fact, the company’s analysis of 942 cities over 36 countries, found that 62% of urban areas suffer longer travel delayed than were recorded in 2024, led in the U.S. by Baltimore and Philadelphia with 21% increases. We’re listing the 12 U.S. metro areas in which INRIX says motorists face the worst traffic delays per year, and the busiest byways that register the nation’s most onerous tie-ups below. Not surprisingly, those having the quickest average commutes tend to live in and around smaller burgs, with motorists in Cumberland, MD losing little more than one hour per year backed up in traffic. It’s followed by Butte, MT at two hours; Harlingen, TX at three hours; Youngstown, OH at four hours; with Lufkin, Wichita Falls and Abilene, TX and Cedar Rapids, IA at a still-easygoing five hours lost.Outside the U.S., the worst congestion can be found in Istanbul , followed by Mexico City , Cape Town , London and Paris . And while the report doesn’t measure the impact, INRIX suggests that longer travel times also have an adverse effect on the nation’s quality of life via extended freight delays, longer bus and taxi rides and additional tailpipe emissions befouling the environment.New York City, NY
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