Map Shows US Cities With Best—and Worst—Traffic

Newsweek

6 days ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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New data has identified the U.S. cities with the best and worst traffic, showing that Washington, D.C., has overtaken Los Angeles as the most congested city.
According to ConsumerAffairs, which does annual traffic rankings, the average commute time in Washington, D.C., was found to be 33.4 minutes—the longest in the country. The city was also found to have an average weekday congestion of 6.5 hours, which equates to spending 71 days of the year in traffic.
While the city ranked high for traffic, its rate of car crash fatalities was significantly lower.
Why It Matters
Traffic congestion has been linked with higher levels of air pollution, which has been found to significantly affect health. Those in cities with higher rates of congestion, where travelers sit in their cars surrounded by exhaust fumes, could be at greater risk of developing air pollution-associated health issues.
A study by the University of Leeds in England found that higher exposure to traffic was associated with "a significant burden of chronic disease and increased premature mortality."
The increased air pollution and decreased physical activity caused by motorized traffic were linked to about 7 million and 2.1 million global deaths, respectively.
What To Know
Alongside Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Atlanta ranked in the top five worst cities for traffic in the U.S., out of ConsumerAffairs' research of the nation's 50 most populous metropolitan areas.
While Washington, D.C., had the highest commute time of all the cities, Los Angeles—infamous for its congestion—still had the longest weekday congestion time, almost eight hours.
At the other end of the rankings, Rochester, New York; Salt Lake City, Utah; Cleveland, Ohio; Hartford, Connecticut; and St. Louis, Missouri were the five cities with the least traffic. All had commute times of less than 30 minutes and average weekday congestion of less than three hours.
Rochester had the best commute time of 21.2 minutes, while St. Louis had the lowest weekday congestion of one hour and five minutes.
While there are clear downsides to traffic, such an increased air pollution and potential health implications, congestion is also often a reflection of "economic prosperity," Michael Manville, an urban planning professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, told ConsumerAffairs.
Manville said a growing economy with high levels of employment and opportunity stop people from leaving the cities, increasing population growth, which means there are more cars on the road.
ConsumerAffairs is a private company that reviews various American products and services.
What People Are Saying
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment said: "Exhaust from motor vehicles is the main source of outdoor air pollution in many urban areas in the United States. The amount of exposure at a particular location, such as a residence, is directly related to both the volume of traffic on nearby roads and the distance from the location to the roadways. Other factors such as wind direction and weather also play a role. Many studies have linked proximity to busy roads to a variety of adverse health outcomes in both adults and children, including respiratory symptoms, asthma attacks, decreases in lung function, heart attacks, and low birth weight."
A study at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis said: "Anyone who spends any time commuting knows that the time and fuel wasted while sitting in traffic can not only be annoying, but can lead to real economic costs. …
"Our analyses indicate that the public health impacts of congestion are significant enough in magnitude, at least in some urban areas, to be considered in future evaluations of the benefits of policies to mitigate congestion."