Pittsburgh's Traffic Congestion Among Nation's Worst: Study

PITTSBURGH, PA - Anyone who has traveled at a snail’s pace during morning and evening rush hours around town probably won’t be surprised: Pittsburgh’s traffic congestion is the seventh-worst among the nation’s urban areas, and the Parkway East and West between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-79 is the nation’s fifth-most congested roadway.

That’s according a new study released Tuesday by mobility analytics company INRIX. The report identified and ranked congestion trends in more than 200 cities, across 38 countries and determined that Americans lost an average of 97 hours a year due to congestion.

In Pittsburgh, drivers on the Parkway East and West lose an average of 18 minutes a day or 72 hours annually. Boston (164 hours lost due to congestion) and Washington D.C. (155 hours) ranked as the most congested two cities in the U.S., over 15 hours per year more than the next most congested cities, Chicago (138 hours) and Seattle (138 hours).

While famous for its congestion, the constant gridlock in Los Angeles (ranked fifth in impact with 128 hours lost in 2018) doesn’t have the severity as the other top-ranked cities due to its geography and massive road network.

Traffic delays add up to a considerable financial cost. In the United States, it amounted to nearly $87 billion or $1,348 per driver in 2018, the study found. In Pittsburgh, that congestion cost totaled $1.2 billion or $1,776 per driver.

Click here to see the entire study.

Photo: PennDOT traffic camera.

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