Pandemic Reduced 2020 Downtown Traffic in 2020 Saving $980

INRIX, Inc., a world leader in transportation analytics and connected car services, published the 2020 Global Traffic Scorecard that identified and ranked congestion and mobility trends in more than 1,000 cities, across 50 countries amid a year that brought unprecedented economic and social disruption due to the onset of COVID-19. On average, American drivers lost just 26 hours this year in traffic, down from 99 hours in 2019, saving $980 over last year. Nationally, drivers saved more than 3.4 billion hours, resulting in $51 billion in time savings compared to 2019.

“COVID-19 has completely transformed when, where and how people move. Government restrictions and the continued spread of the virus led to shifts in travel behavior seemingly overnight,” said Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at INRIX. “Morning commutes in cities across the world went without delay as people reduced auto and transit travel to offices, schools, shopping centers and other public spaces.”

Drivers in New York (100 hours), Philadelphia (94 hours) and Chicago (86 hours) lost the most time to traffic congestion despite a 28% to 40% drop from 2019. Fourth-ranked Boston (48 hours), ranked first in 2019 with 101 hours lost, saw a 68% decrease in delay compared to last year. Washington, D.C. (29 hours) saw the largest change in congestion where delay fell 77% from 2019.

Table 1: 10 Most Congested Urban Areas in the U.S.

Downtown Trips Plummet
Much of a region’s traffic congestion centers around commutes to, from and within Central Business Districts. The closure of offices, restaurants, entertainment, fitness centers and other brick-and-mortar storefronts, along with limits on gatherings, had an outsized effect in the densest parts of each region.

Portland, Oregon saw the largest drop (-66%) in trips to downtown since the pandemic and related restrictions took hold, followed by San Francisco (-64%), Washington D.C. (-60%), Detroit (-59%) and Boston (-56%). Nationwide, the largest metros saw an average decline of 44% in city center trips. As a result, downtown speeds increased as much as 42%, providing further evidence that urban travel is still lagging behind in the recovery.

“Although travel to downtowns has been the most affected by the spread of the virus and subsequent government restrictions, the reduction in congestion has resulted in quicker commutes for essential workers, more reliable deliveries and streamlined freight movement, all of which are vital to the economy,” said Pishue. “We expect downtown trips will continue to lag suburban and rural travel through 2021.”

The Most Congested Corridors in the U.S.
Throughout the country, delay on the busiest corridors decreased versus 2019. Chicago’s Eisenhower Expressway had the most delay in 2020 at 41 hours, down from 56 hours in 2019. Other familiar names continued to top the busiest corridors list, albeit with dramatic reductions in delay, with New York’s Brooklyn Queens Expressway (30 hours) and Cross Bronx Expressway (23 hours) remaining in the Top 5. Last year, I-5 in Los Angeles topped the list at 80 hours of daily delay but dropped completely out of the Top 25 of 2020.

Table 2: 10 Most Congested U.S. Roads in 2020

How U.S. Cities Compare to Top Cities Worldwide
At the global level, Bogota topped the list of the cities most impacted by traffic congestion with drivers losing 133 hours a year to congestion (-31% from 2019) followed by Bucharest (134 hours), New York (100 hours), Moscow (100 hours) and Philadelphia (94 hours). In Europe, Rome saw the greatest reductions in delay compared to 2020, dropping 60%, followed by Brussels (-58%), Dublin (-57%), Athens (-54%) and London (-53%).

Table 3: 10 Most Congested Cities in the World in 2020

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 prioritize spending to maximize benefits and reduce costs now and into the future.

The key findings of the INRIX 2020 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.