Evening Rush Hour Adds Nearly 50% More Time to Americans’ Commute
If your evening commute is feeling longer than ever, you’re not alone.
TomTom has just released its 5th annual Traffic Index, a detailed measurement of traffic congestion in over 200 cities worldwide, and the data shows that evening rush hour adds nearly 50% more time to the commute of most Americans.
The report also shows that people spend 46% more time in their cars compared to free-flow traffic.
Additional highlights of the 2014 study include:
- Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, New York and Seattle, respectively, are the top five most congested cities in the U.S., based on analysis of 12 trillion data points
- For the top 10 US cities the average overall congestion is now 30%, a 5% increase from 2012 New York congestion increased this year, resulting in a move up in the rankings from 6th to 4th most congested
- In general, Thursday is the most congested evening commute, except in Honolulu and New York, where Friday shows the highest congestion The high levels of congestion are due in part to the traditional work week, giving people no choice but to all be on the road network at the exact same time.
The authors noted that “by adopting more flexible schedules, individuals save travel time and rush hour congestion can be reduced overall.”
“TomTom’s mission is to reduce traffic congestion for everyone,” said Jocelyn Vigreux, President of TomTom, Inc. “Our traffic data shows that there are opportunities for businesses, road authorities and drivers to use TomTom’s real-time traffic information to help ease the impact of rush hour traffic for road users every day. In addition to recognizing the impact of rush hour traffic, the TomTom Traffic Index can help road authorities measure the performance of their network and pinpoint areas where traffic flow can be improved.”
Category: Consumer
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