Photo: Brian Jeffery Beggerly on Flickr
No matter how bad the traffic wherever it is you do most of your driving and commuting, you can always find pleasure in the thought that some people, all the way across the planet, have it a lot worse than you.
That is unless you live in one of these ten cities, in which case the list is considerably narrower. Some of them are famous for it, others may be a little surprising - whatever the case, consider this a warning and a holiday planning tool in case you were thinking about paying any of these a visit.
Let's start with the least drastic urban agglomeration on the list, which according to the specialists at RegTransfers (using data from the 2016 Inrix Global Scorecard - via AutoGuide) would be Miami, Florida. Best known for its palm trees and an '80s TV show, it seems the southern U.S. city has a darker side to it - one that's littered with tiny red and white lights. People here spend 64.9 hours per year in traffic.
In the ninth spot is the French capital of Paris where local drivers are forced to spend 65.3 hours caught up in traffic. They probably half-blame the tourists for it, though, which is one more reason you should not make it obvious you're on holiday while there.
Atlanta, Georgia makes a surprise eight place entry, taking the number of yearly hours wasted in congestion into the low 70s - 70.8, to be more exact. The people in London, a city that actually enforces a "congestion charge," have it slightly worse with 73.4 hours.
As we get closer to the mid-table positions we find the first South American city: Sao Paulo, in Brazil. You can once more blame the 77.2 hours a year that drivers can enjoy in gridlock on the tourists, as this is one of the most visited areas of the country.
We don't go too far for the fifth place where Columbia's capital of Bogota sits proudly with 79.8 hours. Here the foreigners are safe as a much more likely culprit is the poor public transport infrastructure. For the fourth spot, we need to go back to the U.S.A. and stop over on the West Coast. The bustling San Francisco area has its citizens waste an average of 89.4 hours in traffic, which just happens to be the same number as for anyone living in New York City.
The second place is taken up by Moscow, the most densely populated area in Russia and also the wealthiest. If you've seen any of the "Stop a Douchebag" videos then you won't be surprised to find out that the Moscovites spend 91.4 hours per year on average in traffic.
Finally, it's time for our number one, and it couldn't have been any other place than the city of Los Angeles. The Californian metropolis steals 104.1 hours every year from each of its drivers on average, which is just over four full days. If you live there, you know what you have to do: get a bike or move out.
It's worth pointing out that the 2016 Inrix Global Scorecard might not evaluate traffic in all cities around the world, meaning it might be even more tragic in some of the places out there. Tokyo or Bangkok spring to mind, for instance, and we're sure others have horror gridlock stories as well. Especially with Christmas coming and all.
Let's start with the least drastic urban agglomeration on the list, which according to the specialists at RegTransfers (using data from the 2016 Inrix Global Scorecard - via AutoGuide) would be Miami, Florida. Best known for its palm trees and an '80s TV show, it seems the southern U.S. city has a darker side to it - one that's littered with tiny red and white lights. People here spend 64.9 hours per year in traffic.
In the ninth spot is the French capital of Paris where local drivers are forced to spend 65.3 hours caught up in traffic. They probably half-blame the tourists for it, though, which is one more reason you should not make it obvious you're on holiday while there.
Atlanta, Georgia makes a surprise eight place entry, taking the number of yearly hours wasted in congestion into the low 70s - 70.8, to be more exact. The people in London, a city that actually enforces a "congestion charge," have it slightly worse with 73.4 hours.
As we get closer to the mid-table positions we find the first South American city: Sao Paulo, in Brazil. You can once more blame the 77.2 hours a year that drivers can enjoy in gridlock on the tourists, as this is one of the most visited areas of the country.
We don't go too far for the fifth place where Columbia's capital of Bogota sits proudly with 79.8 hours. Here the foreigners are safe as a much more likely culprit is the poor public transport infrastructure. For the fourth spot, we need to go back to the U.S.A. and stop over on the West Coast. The bustling San Francisco area has its citizens waste an average of 89.4 hours in traffic, which just happens to be the same number as for anyone living in New York City.
The second place is taken up by Moscow, the most densely populated area in Russia and also the wealthiest. If you've seen any of the "Stop a Douchebag" videos then you won't be surprised to find out that the Moscovites spend 91.4 hours per year on average in traffic.
Finally, it's time for our number one, and it couldn't have been any other place than the city of Los Angeles. The Californian metropolis steals 104.1 hours every year from each of its drivers on average, which is just over four full days. If you live there, you know what you have to do: get a bike or move out.
It's worth pointing out that the 2016 Inrix Global Scorecard might not evaluate traffic in all cities around the world, meaning it might be even more tragic in some of the places out there. Tokyo or Bangkok spring to mind, for instance, and we're sure others have horror gridlock stories as well. Especially with Christmas coming and all.
Google News