Detroit Traffic Congestion Among Worst In The U.S.: Report

DETROIT, MI — You’re not imagining it. You are spending 6 percent of the time you’re on the road fighting traffic in Detroit, and it’s costing you more than p $1,000 a year. That’s according to a new INRIX study, said to the largest ever of its kind, which ranked Detroit 24th out of 240 cities in the United States, 28th out of 310 cities in North America and 128th out of 1,064 in the world.

In 2016, Detroit motorists spent 33.5 hours in traffic congestion. It could be worse. In Los Angeles, the No. 1 city in the world for traffic congestion, motorists spent more than 104 hours in traffic congestion, or 13 percent of their diving time. The cost of the congestion per Los Angeles driver is about $2,400.

Also in Top 10 were New York City, San Francisco, Atlanta, Miami, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Boston, Chicago and Seattle.

“Based on the findings, the U.S. ranked as the first most congested developed country in the world, with drivers spending an average of 42 hours a year in traffic during peak hours,” the report reads. “For the first time, the INRIX Traffic Scorecard also includes the direct and indirect costs of congestion to all U.S. drivers, which amounted to nearly $300 billion in 2016, an average of $1,400 per driver.”

Direct costs include the value of fuel and time wasted in congestion, while indirect costs include increases in prices for household goods from freight trucks sitting in traffic, according to the report.

Detroit and Phoenix tied for the lowest cost of congestion among the top 25 U.S. Cities, at $1,062 per drive, and rank among the bottom in all three categories of costs: commuting, business and leisure/other, according to the report.

“Despite the high costs of congestion in New York and other cities, American drivers, in general, have it easier than their German counterparts,” the report read. “At $1,938, congestion costs the average German driver 38 percent more than an American, after adjusting for exchange rates and the cost of living.”

Not surprisingly, the congestion in Detroit mainly occurs during rush hour, when 8 percent of driving time was spent on roads in and out of the city. At night, divers encountered congestion only 1 percent of the time.

INRIX, the world's largest traffic intelligence network, arrived at its findings by using real-time GPS probe data and traditional real-time traffic flow information, as well as market-specific conditions that affect traffic, including construction and road closures, real-time incidents, sporting and entertainment events, weather forecasts and school schedules.

Read more comparisons here.

Photo by Marcin Wichary via Flickr Commons