Traffic congestion map: D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco have worst traffic.

What City’s Traffic Is Even Worse Than New York and L.A.’s?

What City’s Traffic Is Even Worse Than New York and L.A.’s?

A partnership of Slate and the New America Foundation.
Feb. 28 2013 5:41 AM

The City With the Worst Traffic in America

A map of traffic congestion by metropolitan area.

If you thought partisan gridlock was the only thing to worry about in the nation's capital, you might be surprised to hear this: According to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute's annual survey of U.S. metro area traffic, the Washington D.C. area again ranked No. 1 for hours wasted in traffic gridlock. The institute estimated that, in 2011, D.C. drivers spent 67 hours delayed in traffic, at a cost per vehicle of $1,398 in wasted productivity and 32 gallons of excess fuel. The survey tracked not only the time, fuel, and productivity lost to gridlock in U.S. metropolitan areas, it also estimated the impact the traffic congestion had on carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.

The map above shows data from the top 100 congested metro areas included in the TTI's analysis. Pan and zoom around the map to find your metro area or use the "Find my location" button to zoom directly to data related to your city.