America's longest commutes got longer in 2024: See the worst cities
A new report reveals that commute times and congestion levels are continuing to get worse for many drivers.
TomTom, a location technology specialist, released its new travel index – an annual report highlighting global traffic trends.
This year’s edition featured 500 cities across 62 countries, covering 458 billion miles driven in 2024 to track and demonstrate how traffic patterns have changed. The metrics rank the cities based on their average travel time, as well as congestion levels.
The company said the information can help urban planners and policymakers tackle traffic-related challenges.
In an aerial view, traffic backs up on Interstate 80 on November 27, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Global trends in 2024
What we know:
The study found that 379 cities out of 500 (76%) saw their overall average speed decrease compared to 2023.
Despite this decrease, average speeds under optimal conditions, characterized by free-flowing traffic, remained stable and showed slight improvements in most cities.
What they're saying:
"This suggests that the observed deterioration in average speeds is primarily driven by dynamic factors affecting congestion levels rather than changes in road infrastructure," TomTom said in a press release.
New York ranks worst US city for worsening travel times
By the numbers:
The study found that New York had the worst average travel time since 2023, increasing to 30 mins and 1 second (for six miles).
This was followed by San Francisco, Honolulu, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Los Angeles ranked worst for its worsening congestion level – the average additional time lost to traffic in 2024.
This was followed by Honololulu, Miami, Fort Meyers and San Francisco.
See the full report here.
Traffic data to understand how cities move
What they're saying:
As urban areas continue to expand, traffic congestion is becoming an increasingly pressing issue that needs to be addressed, according to TomTom.
"The combination of population and economic growth is putting significant strain on our transportation networks," Ralf-Peter Schäfer, the vice president of traffic at TomTom, said in a statement. "Outdated infrastructure and inefficient road planning fail to keep pace with demand. Additionally, the surge in e-commerce has led to a rise in freight traffic, further complicating the situation. Without a shift towards more regulation and sustainable transportation options, we risk worsening congestion that impacts everyone in our cities."
Traffic may be worse now than before COVID-19 pandemic
Big picture view:
Another report, published last year, found that traffic congestion and the amount of daily driving in America is worse now than it was before the pandemic.
The report from Streetlight Data, which analyzes traffic congestion and VMT (vehicle miles traveled) in major U.S. metros, found that as of spring 2024, the number of miles Americans were driving had jumped – and the increase in VMT in spring 2024 compared to spring 2023 marked the steepest year-over-year increase since the initial pandemic bounce back in 2021.
What they're saying:
"While there was some hope that a new remote work culture might keep miles driven down and congestion at bay, StreetLight’s results indicate that the status quo isn’t working," the report said. "A reliance on remote work is not a panacea to the rise in VMT and the default solution for traffic—adding roadway capacity—isn’t solving congestion.
"Without significant changes, the upward trend in VMT shows no signs of peaking."