Toronto is the most congested city in North America, averaging 29 minutes to travel 10 km in 2023, according to the TomTom Traffic Index. “Reducing congestion isn’t about building more roads or rebuilding road networks for cars; it’s about the heart of the city and giving space back to other modes of transport,” said TomTom Vice-President Product Management of Traffic, Travel and Routing Ralf-Peter Schefer in a press release. TomTom said Toronto was the third most congested city in the world. It added the average commute time for 10 km was up 50 seconds from 2022. Because of the excessive traffic, Torontonians lost 98 hours per year stuck in rush hour. TomTom went on to say Mexico City was the second most congested city in North America (26 minutes 30 seconds). It found Mexico City was the 13th most congested city in the world. Mexico City's average commute time was up 50 seconds from 2022. Its residents lost 152 hours per year in rush hour. New York City was the third most congested city in North America (24 minutes 50 seconds). New York City came in 20th place worldwide. While New York City had less traffic than Toronto and Mexico City, its average commute time was up 20 seconds. Like many other cities, New Yorkers lost 112 hours sitting in traffic. After New York City was Vancouver (23 minutes 10 seconds). This was followed by Washington, DC (21 minutes 20 seconds), San Francisco (20 minutes 30 seconds), and Winnipeg (19 minutes 20 seconds). TomTom found London was the most congested city in the world (37 minutes 20 seconds). While London was the most congested city in the world, it said other British cities were not far away. London’s commute time has gone up by one minute. Londoners lost 148 hours per year in rush hour. After London was Dublin (29 minutes 30 seconds). This was followed by Toronto (29 minutes), Milan (28 minutes 50 seconds), and Lima (28 minutes 30 seconds). Oklahoma City was the least congested city in the world (8 minutes 40 seconds). Other American cities hovered towards the bottom of the list. No change happened to Oklahoma City’s commute time. Oklahoma City residents spent 19 hours per year in rush hour. Edmontonians spend the least amount of time stuck in traffic when compared to other major Canadian cities, according to the Inrix 2022 Global Traffic Scorecard published in 2023. READ MORE: Edmonton ranked best city in Canada for hours lost to traffic“It is great to see civic and commercial life returning to normal, but unfortunately we’re seeing congestion inching closer to, if not exceeding, pre-pandemic levels,” said Inrix transportation analyst and study co-author Bob Pishue.Inrix said Edmonton drivers lost seven hours sitting in traffic during 2022 — up 3% from 2021 but down 35% from 2019. It said Edmonton was the 166th best city in the world for traffic. The TomTom Traffic Index is based on floating car data. With this study, it used a representative sample of this data to assess and show how traffic has evolved in cities around the globe throughout 2023.
