Here's How Baltimore Ranks For Traffic Congestion

By Deb Belt/ Patch Staff
Posted on 09/08/19 | News Source: Pikesville Patch

BALTIMORE, MD — The 2019 Urban Mobility Report presented a troubling finding that commuters across the nation — especially drivers who have to commute in the Baltimore area — already know too well: Traffic congestion in the United States is at an all time worst.

The recently released report by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute was based off hundreds of speed data points for every 15 minutes of the average day for almost every mile of major road in urban America.

Drivers in our city spend on average 59 hours each year in traffic delays, the 22nd highest amount in America. Baltimore also ranks 32nd in excess fuel per commuter, due to congestion, and 32nd in congestion cost per driver.

 

Here are the congestion statistics for Baltimore:

The urban area of Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim took home the dubious honor of worst overall congestion in the United States. The San Francisco-Oakland metro ranked second and the Washington, D.C., metro was third.

Here are the ten urban areas with the worst congestion in the country:

  1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA: Annual Delay — 119 hours.
  2. San Francisco-Oakland, CA: Annual Delay — 103 hours.
  3. Washington DC: Annual Delay — 102 hours.
  4. New York-Newark, NY: Annual Delay — 92 hours.
  5. Boston, MA: Annual Delay — 80 hours.
  6. Atlanta, GA: Annual Delay — 77 hours.
  7. Houston, TX: Annual Delay — 75 hours.
  8. Chicago, IL: Annual Delay — 73 hours.
  9. Miami, FL: Annual Delay — 69 hours.
  10. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: Annual Delay — 67 hours.

The 2019 Urban Mobility Report measured the congestion problem for a total of 494 urban areas in 2017, which is when the most recent data is available. All together, congestion caused $166 billion of wasted time and fuel, and an extra 8.8 billion hours of travel.

The average urban commuter in 2017 spent an extra 54 hours of travel time on roads, and had to use an additional 21 gallons of fuel.

The average congestion cost per commuter was $1,010.