Boston had nation's worst rush-hour traffic congestion in 2018

By Tom Acitelli - Curbed Boston 

Boston drivers wasted an average of 164 hours in rush-hour traffic in 2018, the highest total among U.S. cities, according to a new report from research firm INRIX. 

The company analyzes millions of bits of data for its annual Global Traffic Scorecard. Boston always scores rather high, but this year the city appears to have rated particularly bad. 

For the first time, too, INRIX looked at commutes in terms of peak (slowest travel times) versus inter-peak (fastest point between morning and afternoon commutes) travel times. In Boston on average, commutes increased 27 percent during peak versus inter-peak hours.

There was a bit of good news in the report. “[I]n cities like Boston, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, a higher proportion of trips are taken via public transportation, walking, or cycling.” Any car trips then are more likely to be related to business, the report said—unlike in, say, Los Angeles, where everyone drives everywhere for everything. In fact, INRIX said that L.A. was the most car-dependent city of the top 10. 

A rundown of that top 10 is below. 

Perhaps its status as the U.S. city with the worst rush-hour traffic will drive Boston’s leaders to reconsider congestion pricing once again. Or maybe the T will be fare-free sooner rather than later.

Tim Marsh - Owner/Broker

Marsh Properties, Inc.