TomTom, the world’s leading provider of navigation solutions and
digital maps, today revealed the first fully detailed view of which
cities have the worst traffic in the United States. The results were
calculated using data from Speed Profiles, the historical speed
database from TomTom map business unit Tele Atlas that helps personal
and professional fleet drivers using portable, in car or smartphone
navigation systems avoid trouble spots and save time and money.
Speed
Profiles aggregates the actual speeds that millions of anonymous,
GPS-enabled drivers have traveled over the last two years. This
community of drivers is the largest GPS data collection community in
the world. It provides actual average speeds for every five minutes of
the day on roads across the full network to help show a far more
accurate view of historic traffic. In contrast, traditional historical
traffic systems use random sampling from a limited number of road
sensors on primary roads or from fleet vehicle traces.
Cities*
were ranked as most to least congested according to how fast cars could
travel on the street network. A city’s traffic was defined as congested
if drivers could travel at only 70% or less of the posted speed limit,
meaning on average an hour long commute included 20 minutes or more of
significant delays.
The results of the continental U.S. states reveal some interesting surprises:
* Seattle, Washington is the city with the worst traffic in the United
States, with an average of 43% of its roads showing heavy delays.
Rounding out the top five cities after Seattle are Los Angeles (38%),
Chicago (37%), San Francisco (35%) and New York (31%).
* The “Bay Area” of California has the most cities in the top 30, with San Francisco, San Jose (29%) and Oakland (28%).
* The most congested “corridor” is between Baltimore and Washington,
D.C. About 36% of that area’s roads, largely in Montgomery County, are
congested.
* While New York has many pockets of heavy congestion,
the area also contains many major arteries for alternative routes. In
fact, cities with fewer options for alternative roads were higher on
the list.
* The least congested of the top 30? Minneapolis, Minnesota. Only 17% of the roads in that city are congested.
When
all U.S. states and territories are included, the Toa Baja and Bayamón
areas of San Juan, Puerto Rico are both in the top ten. Approximately
24% of the streets in greater San Juan are congested.
For a full
list of the top 30 most congested cities in the continental U.S., a
list of the most congested cities including all states and territories,
and for more information, go to teleatlaspresskit.com.
With
packed roadways and ever-increasing travel times, drivers are seeking
better ways to minimize fuel costs and find the fastest routes to their
destinations. Speed Profiles, integrated as IQ RoutesTM on TomTom
devices and available in other applications, provides the insight
needed to avoid congestion and the stress which accompanies it. It also
helps businesses cut transportation and logistics costs. Speed Profiles
is available in 27 countries and territories, covering 35 million
kilometers of both directions of roads.
