Traffic in Los Angeles has never been particularly good, and it seems to be getting worse with each passing year. In fact, a new study shows that it is one of the cities with the worst traffic in the world, and the most congested city in the United States. According to the TomTom Traffic Index, which measures traffic congestion in more than 200 cities from all over the world, Istanbul is the world’s most congested city, followed by Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, with Los Angeles’ traffic ranking 10th worst.
TomTom, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of car navigation technology, has released it’s latest annual Traffic Index, which shows that the congestion level in Los Angeles reached 39% in 2014, an increase of 3% over the year before. According to the report, a 30-minute commute in Los Angeles causes drivers to spend an extra 95 hours stuck in traffic annually, and that the delay per day is 25 minutes. During the evening rush hour, a 30-minute trip takes 54 minutes. Los Angeles also had the worst evening congestion level in the country, at 80%.
The second-most populous city in the U.S. was followed by San Francisco on TomTom’s Traffic Index, with a 34-percent congestion levels in 2014, up from 32% in 2013. The daily delay with a 30-minute commute in San Francisco was 23 minute, and the delay per year was 87 hours.
The remaining positions on the list of top ten most congested cities in the U.S. in 2014 are taken by Honolulu, with 32%, New York (31%), Seattle (31%), San Jose (30%), Miami (27%), Chicago (27%), Washington D.C. (27%), and Portland, coming in at number 10, with a congestion level of 26%. The average congestion level for the 10 most congested cities in the U.S. was 30%, up from 25% in 2012. For most of the cities on this list, the evening congestion levels were worst on Thursdays.
“TomTom’s mission is to reduce traffic congestion for everyone,” said Jocelyn Vigreux, President of TomTom, Inc. “Our traffic data shows that there are opportunities for businesses, road authorities and drivers to use TomTom’s real-time traffic information to help ease the impact of rush hour traffic for road users every day. In addition to recognizing the impact of rush hour traffic, the TomTom Traffic Index can help road authorities measure the performance of their network and pinpoint areas where traffic flow can be improved.”
The biggest reason behind the rise in congestion levels in the top ten most congested cities in the U.S. year after year, is the fact that the number of cars and commuter trips have increased substantially over the years, which hasn’t been followed by construction of new roads or expanding existing ones.