Toronto traffic among worst in the world, global study finds

By Lucas Casaletto

Few aspects of commuting are more frustrating than being stuck in traffic, and Toronto’s reputation for daily gridlock isn’t getting any better.

Inrix, a location-based data and analytics company focusing on real-time and historical traffic conditions, published its 2022 Global Traffic Scorecard. That study examined over 1,000 cities, 50 countries and seven continents.

In the global section, Toronto ranked seventh in the highest traffic delay times per city. Condensed to the North America group, Toronto was slotted third behind Boston and Chicago.

City ranking top 10 (Global scale)

  1. London (UK)
  2. Chicago
  3. Paris
  4. Boston
  5. New York City
  6. Bogota (Colombia)
  7. Toronto
  8. Philadelphia
  9. Miami
  10. Palermo (Italy)

10 highest traffic delay times by city (North America)

  1. Chicago
  2. Boston
  3. Toronto
  4. New York City
  5. Monterrey (Mexico)
  6. Philadelphia
  7. Miami
  8. San Francisco
  9. Los Angeles
  10. Washington

Inrix says its 2022 Global Traffic Scorecard provides four years of mobility data “for a more granular and holistic analysis of mobility within the world’s most congested areas.”

The data deduced that Toronto lost 118 hours in traffic, compared to London (156 hours) and Chicago (155 hours). Toronto also saw the sharpest increase in hours lost to traffic since 2021, with a 59 per cent change — tied with Miami.

In terms of Canadian cities, after Toronto, it was Montreal slotting in 33rd with 72 hours lost to traffic delays, followed by Vancouver at No. 58 (59 hours), Winnipeg at No. 107 (48 hours), Calgary very low at No. 460 (20 hours) and finally Edmonton at No. 834 with only seven hours lost.

Inrix traffic data also showed a four per cent increase in road collisions across Canada in 2022, noting that traffic safety is still a major concern as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes.

“Traffic fatality rates in the U.S. are up 19 per cent in 2022 versus 2019, and Germany projects a 9 per cent increase in road fatalities during 2022.”

Inrix heavily factored in fuel prices in the 2022 scorecard, given the global nature of oil markets.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today