- Top 5 most congested cities in the world: Istanbul, New York City, Chicago, Mexico City and London.
- The average driver in the UK lost 62 hours due to traffic congestion, up 1 hour compared to 2023.
- The average London driver spent £942 due to lost time n in 2024, UK drivers on average lost £581 in time.
- In the UK overall, the cost to the country was £7.7 billion, £200 million increase over the prior year.
LONDON – January 6, 2025 – INRIX, Inc., a global leader in transportation data and analytics, today published the 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard that identified and ranked congestion in nearly 950 cities, across 37 countries.
London topped the Traffic Scorecard in Europe – and placed fifth globally – with drivers losing 101 hours sitting in congestion, two percent increase in delays from 2023. The capital continues to account for approximately 50% of all U.K. traffic delay. The total cost to London was £3.85 billion, averaging £942 per driver.
For the UK as whole, the country lost £7.7 billion, £200 million more than in 2023. The average UK driver lost 62 hours due to traffic congestion last year, up only one from the previous year equating £581 per driver per year. The capital accounted for approximately 50% of all UK traffic delay.
Bob Pishue, transportation analyst and author of the report: “While the UK did see a slight increase in congestion again this year, overall congestion has remained steady. Roadworks in key corridors such as M25 Wisely Interchange caused considerable traffic on a main artery into the capital. Interestingly it was cities outside of the capital that saw the greatest increase in congestion with Manchester seeing a large increase, up 13%.
While London only had a modest increase in time lost, it still represented half of the entire country’s delay. Bristol and Leeds both moved up a spot while Birmingham and Wigan fell. Sheffield and Edinburgh were added to the top 10 list this year, as delays grew to 53 hours lost per driver in both places. Manchester has continued its rise to the 4th ranked spot in the country, after moving from 11th to 8th from 2022-2023, and from 8th to 4th in 2024.
Table 1: 10 Most Congested Urban Areas in the U.K.
| 2024 U.K. Rank (2023 Rank) | Urban Area | 2024 Hours Lost (2023 Hours Lost) | Delay Change | 2024 Cost per Driver | 2024 Cost per City | Downtown Speed (mph) |
| 1 (1) | London | 101 (99) | 2% | £ 942 | £ 3.85 B | 13 |
| 2 (3) | Bristol | 65 (62) | 5% | £ 606 | £ 125 M | 17 |
| 3 (4) | Leeds | 60 (59) | 2% | £ 560 | £ 204 M | 19 |
| 4 (8) | Manchester | 61 (54) | 13% | £ 570 | £ 129 M | 17 |
| 5 (6) | Bath | 68 (67) | 1% | £ 634 | £ 26 M | 15 |
| 6 (2) | Birmingham | 54 (60) | -10% | £ 504 | £ 300 M | 20 |
| 7 (5) | Wigan | 57 (61) | -7% | £ 532 | £ 87 M | 18 |
| 8 (7) | Chelmsford | 59 (60) | -2% | £ 550 | £ 46 M | 22 |
| 9 (11) | Sheffield | 53 (52) | 2% | £ 494 | £ 133 M | 18 |
Due to the concentration of population, employment and economic activity, London holds most of the top corridors for traffic delays in the UK. Driving on London’s most congested corridor – Westbound A40 between the North Circular and the A406 –at the 5:00 PM peak hour would took an extra 17 minutes or 68 hours sitting in traffic over the course of the year. Road works at the Wisely Bypass on the M25 and M3 caused high levels of delays with that corridor coming in third in the UK.
The busiest corridor in Bristol, the second most-congested urban area in the UK, was the AA420 Eastbound from the Lawrence Hill Roundabout to Hollow Road. At 4:00PM on the weekday drivers lose about 5 minutes a day, or 21 hours annually.
Table 2: Most Congested U.K. Roads by top three cities in 2024
| Road Name | From | To | Peak Hour | 2023 Peak Minutes Lost | 2023 Hours Lost |
| London | |||||
| A40 WB | A320 | A406 | 5:00 PM | 17 | 68 |
| N Circular Road NB | Falloden Way | A1110 | 4:00 PM | 10 | 40 |
| M25 SB | M3 | A3 | 5:00 PM | 8 | 34 |
| Bristol | |||||
| A420 EB | Lawrence Hill Rndbt | Hollow Rd | 4:00 PM | 5 | 21 |
| Portway/A4 SB | Portway Rndbt | Bristol Gate | 5:00 PM | 5 | 21 |
| A3029/A4174 EB | A38 | A37 | 4:00 PM | 5 | 18 |
| Leeds | |||||
| A650 SB | Queen’s Road | All Saints Rd | 4:00 PM | 10 | 38 |
| A657/Leeds Rd WB | Cross Road | Bingley Rd | 4:00 PM | 8 | 30 |
| A65/New Road SB | Park Road | Horsforth New Rd | 4:00 PM | 7 | 26 |
How the UK cities compare to top cities worldwide
Like the US and Germany, the UK saw traffic congestion grow in 2023 and reach pre-COVID levels. London’s two percent increase is lower than cities in the global top 25 suggesting that the city rebounded from the effects of COVID sooner and other cities are catching up. The capital is also the only UK city in the global top 25 cities.
Despite all seeing growth in congestion Birmingham, Leeds and Wigan fell in the impact rankings as congestion in other cities grew faster.
Table 3: 25 Most Congested Cities in the World in 2024
| 2024 Impact Rank (2023 Rank) | Urban Area | Country | 2024 Delay per Driver (hours) | 2023 Delay per Driver (hours) | Change from 2023 | Downtown Speed (mph) |
| 1 (6) | Istanbul | TUR | 105 | 91 | 15% | 15 |
| 2 (1) | New York City NY | USA | 102 | 101 | 1% | 13 |
| 3 (5) | Chicago IL | USA | 102 | 96 | 6% | 14 |
| 4 (2) | Mexico City | MEX | 97 | 96 | 1% | 13 |
| 5 (3) | London | GBR | 101 | 99 | 2% | 13 |
| 6 (4) | Paris | FRA | 97 | 97 | 0% | 13 |
| 7 (10) | Jakarta | IDN | 89 | 65 | 37% | 13 |
| 8 (7) | Los Angeles CA | USA | 88 | 89 | -1% | 22 |
| 9 (9) | Cape Town | ZAF | 94 | 83 | 13% | 14 |
| 10 (12) | Brisbane | AUS | 84 | 74 | 14% | 21 |
| 11 (14) | Bangkok | THA | 74 | 63 | 17% | 16 |
| 12 (8) | Boston MA | USA | 79 | 88 | -10% | 13 |
| 13 (13) | Philadelphia PA | USA | 77 | 69 | 12% | 14 |
| 14 (11) | Miami FL | USA | 74 | 70 | 6% | 20 |
| 15 (16) | Dublin | IRL | 81 | 72 | 13% | 15 |
| 16 (15) | Rome | ITA | 71 | 69 | 3% | 15 |
| 17 (19) | Houston TX | USA | 66 | 62 | 6% | 17 |
| 18 (20) | Brussels | BEL | 74 | 68 | 9% | 12 |
| 19 (21) | Atlanta GA | USA | 65 | 61 | 7% | 18 |
| 20 (28) | Warsaw | POL | 70 | 61 | 15% | 17 |
| 21 (22) | Melbourne | AUS | 65 | 62 | 5% | 18 |
| 22 (18) | Washington DC | USA | 62 | 63 | -2% | 12 |
| 23 (27) | Seattle WA | USA | 63 | 58 | 9% | 18 |
| 24 (25) | Milan | ITA | 64 | 60 | 7% | 18 |
| 25 (17) | Toronto ON | CAN | 61 | 63 | -3% | 13 |
Table 4: 25 Most Congested Cities in the World in 2024
| 2024 EU Rank (2023 EU Rank) | Urban Area | Country | 2024 Delay per Driver (hours) | 2023 Delay per Driver (hours) | YOY Change | Downtown Speed (mph) |
| 1( 1) | London | UK | 101 | 99 | 2% | 11 |
| 2( 2) | Paris | FRA | 97 | 97 | 0% | 11 |
| 3( 4) | Dublin | IRL | 81 | 72 | 13% | 11 |
| 4( 3) | Rome | ITA | 71 | 69 | 3% | 13 |
| 5( 5) | Brussels | BEL | 74 | 68 | 9% | 10 |
| 6( 9) | Warsaw | POL | 70 | 61 | 15% | 14 |
| 7( 8) | Milan | ITA | 64 | 60 | 7% | 14 |
| 8( 6) | Rotterdam | NLD | 63 | 62 | 2% | 15 |
| 9( 7) | Prague | CZE | 64 | 64 | 0% | 16 |
| 10( 11) | Berlin | DEU | 58 | 55 | 5% | 13 |
| 11( 15) | Bristol | UK | 65 | 62 | 5% | 13 |
| 12( 10) | Utrecht | NLD | 63 | 65 | -3% | 18 |
| 13( 25) | Ljubljana | SVN | 67 | 59 | 14% | 17 |
| 14( 19) | Leeds | GBR | 60 | 59 | 2% | 16 |
| 15( 16) | Amsterdam | NLD | 55 | 55 | 0% | 18 |
| 16( 29) | Manchester | UK | 61 | 54 | 13% | 13 |
| 17( 18) | The Hague | NLD | 58 | 58 | 0% | 18 |
| 18( 47) | Dusseldorf | DEU | 60 | 49 | 22% | 16 |
| 19( 40) | Budapest | HUN | 55 | 47 | 17% | 14 |
| 20( 24) | Lisboa | PRT | 60 | 57 | 5% | 10 |
| 21( 27) | Munchen | DEU | 55 | 52 | 6% | 11 |
| 22( 17) | Zurich | CHE | 58 | 60 | -3% | 16 |
| 23( 36) | Cologne | DEU | 56 | 50 | 12% | 16 |
| 24( 23) | Bath | UK | 68 | 67 | 1% | 12 |
| 25( 31) | Stuttgart | DEU | 58 | 53 | 9% | 17 |
Access to reliable data is the first step in tackling congestion. Applying big data to create intelligent transportation systems is key to solving urban mobility problems. INRIX data and analytics on mobility, traffic and traffic signals, parking and population movement help city planners and engineers make data-based decisions to prioritise spending to maximise benefits and reduce costs now and into the future.
The key findings of the INRIX 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard provide a quantifiable benchmark for governments and cities across the world to measure progress to improve urban mobility and track the impact of spending on smart city initiatives.
Please visit www.inrix.com/scorecard for:
- Full 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard report, including rankings for the U.K., US., and Germany.
- Interactive webpage with data and information for more than 1000 cities and 50 countries.
- Complete methodology.
###
Notes to Editors:
Data Sources
INRIX aggregates anonymous data from diverse datasets – such as phones, cars, trucks, and cities – that leads to robust and accurate insights. The data used in the 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard is the congested or uncongested status of every segment of road for every minute of the day, as used by millions of drivers around the world that rely on INRIX-based traffic services.
Data used to complete the 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard and Q1 Update spans more than 15 months. The Scorecard incorporated three years of historical data to provide a complete year-over-year comparison of congestion and mobility. A multi-year approach enables the identification of trends in the world’s largest urban areas and provides a basis for comparison.
Research Methodology
The 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard provides the most up-to-date methodology to better understand movement in urban areas across the world. The 2024 Scorecard continues to include travel delay comparisons, last mile speeds and travel trends based on the unique commuting patterns within each metro area, providing unique insights into each urban area’s unique commuting characteristics.
Commute times are calculated by looking exclusively at the time it takes to get to and from major employment centers within an urban area from surrounding commuting neighborhoods. Our newest methodology includes accurate estimates of commuting distances using actual, observed trips. Unlike other calculations that assume a certain distance or summarizes all roads in an area, the 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard utilizes precise calculations to determine the post popular commute routes and their travel speeds, reflecting the typical commuter’s experience on the roadway.
U.S. INRIX estimates the average U.S. commute is about 7.2 miles one-way, while U.K. and German drivers average 8.8 – 9.0 miles.
Economic costs are calculated based on the following hourly values of time, which were based on U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s Revised Departmental Guidance on Valuation of Travel Time for Economic Analysis, 2016, adjusted for inflation: $17.90 per hour in the U.S., £9.33 per hour in the U.K. and 10.88 € per hour in Germany. Individual urban areas may have higher, or lower, values of time depending on local economic conditions.
The 2024 Scorecard values time loss by analyzing peak speed and free-flow speed data for the busiest commuting corridors and sub-areas as identified by origin and destination patterns unique to that area. Employing free-flow data enables a direct comparison between peak periods and serves as the basis for calculating time loss. Total time lost is the difference in travel times experienced during the peak periods compared to free-flow conditions on a per driver basis. In other words, it is the difference between driving during commute hours versus driving at night with little traffic.
Data used to complete the 2024 Scorecard spans more than 22 months. The Scorecard incorporates multiple years of data for a complete and comprehensive look at congestion and mobility. A multi-year approach enables the identification of trends in the world’s largest urban areas and provides a basis for comparison.
Updated in 2024, our “Busiest Corridors” list incorporated observed trip volumes along those corridors, allowing INRIX to scale delay to determine which roads not only have the most congestion for the typically driver, but also how many travelers are affected by that congestion. Selection of the busiest corridors is based off scaled delay, while time lost at peak periods is the height of delay at the peak hour.
Key Definitions
- Impact Rank: The primary INRIX rank, based on the severity of congestion (hours lost) weighted by city size.
- Urban Area: The geographic scope of a city as defined by its road network density, more akin to a metropolitan area.
- Hours Lost: The total number of hours lost in congestion during peak commute periods compared to off-peak conditions.
- Pre-COVID Period: Interchangeable with 2019, though in some contexts it differs from a 2019 average to a comparable day in 2019, depending on data source.
- Downtown Speed: The speed at which a driver can expect to travel one mile into the central business district during AM peak hours.
- Peak: The absolute worst portion of the morning and afternoon commute.
