Boston has ranked as the most congested city in the U.S. for the second consecutive year, with its drivers spending more than six days a year sitting in traffic, a new study revealed.
INRIX, a company that analyzes traffic data, said the average Boston driver loses 149 hours per year to congestion, costing them around $2,205 in lost time.
The was more than the average American driver, who lost 99 hours per year to traffic, costing $1,377 in lost time, the company said in its 2019 Global Traffic Scorecard, which included more than 900 cities in 43 countries.
Rounding out the top five U.S. cities with the most congestion was Chicago (145 hours, $2,059 lost), Philadelphia (142 hours, $2,016 lost), New York (140 hours, $1,988 lost) and Washington D.C. (124 hours, $1,761 lost).
In just two years, between 2017 and 2019, the average time lost by American drivers increased by two hours.
However, the study found that congestion delays have decreased in four of the five most congested cities in the U.S.
Washington D.C. had an 11 percent decrease in congestion delays.
Local
“Congestion costs Americans billions of dollars each year. However, it appears to be stabilizing in some of the country’s most congested metros – with delays raising roughly three percent nationwide since 2017,” said INRIX Transportation Analyst Trevor Reed.
Bogota, Columbia was ranked the most congested city in the world, with its drivers losing an average of 191 hours a year to congestion.
