Hot on the heels of the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl, 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 U.S. Cities With The Worst Traffic Problems
Traffic
Description
This chart shows average hours lost to congestion per driver in major U.S. cities in 2018.
