The cities with the biggest traffic jams

New analysis by INRIX shows that on average last year, each commuter in Bogota spent a huge 272 hours stuck in traffic. Second-placed Rome frustrated its drivers for 254 hours, while third-placed Dublin came in at an infuriating 246.

Figures for the U.K. included in the Inrix Traffic Scorecard shows that on average last year, each commuter in London spent 227 hours stuck in traffic - a lot more than second-placed Belfast with 190 hours and third-placed Edinburgh with 165. When looking at cities around the world, London isn’t just extreme in UK terms, coming in at place six on the global list. Top is Bogota with an astounding 272 hours.

In the U.S., Boston has earned another title, though it isn’t as positive. Residents of the city will readily agree that the commute can prove nightmarish and new research from INRIX shows just how bad it actually is. In 2018, the average Boston commuter driving to and from work lost a whopping 164 hours sitting “bumpah to bumpah” in traffic jams. All of that time stuck in traffic costs each driver $2,291 a year on average while it cost the entire area just over $4 billion. Washington D.C. comes second in the U.S. congestion league with commuters traveling by automobile losing 155 hours last year on average. Chicago came third with 138 hours lost to traffic while New York City and Los Angeles came fourth and fifth with 133 and 128 hours lost respectively. Nationwide, 97 hours were lost on average while the total cost was $87 billion in 2018. There was criticism of INRIX’s methodology from some quarters and several observers pointed out that while trips can be more congested in dense cities like Boston, they are generally do not take as long as in sprawling regions such as Los Angeles where greater distances are involved.

The Inrix study does not include Chinese cities, but that doesn’t mean that Chinese are free of the hassle of getting stuck in traffic on their way to or from work. Numbers from the 2017 TomTom Traffic Index show the most congested cities in China. Ahead of the pack is Chongqing municipality, where congestion levels are at an average 52% and can also reach a morning peak of 90% and an evening peak of 94% congestion. This data also earns Chongqing fourth place in the global TomTom ranking. Second up is Chengdu, with Beijing coming in third. The study defines free flowing traffic as 0% congestion.

China has been fighting high congestion levels in the last decade, resulting from population growth in the cities and rising car ownership rates, but in recent years the country has been trying to tackle the problem by using license plate restrictions and expanding public transit, among others. (Source: Statista)