Transportation

New York, San Francisco Ranked Worst for US Traffic in City Centers

The global ranking of traffic data comes as NYC launches congestion pricing this week.

Traffic on Madison Avenue in New York City. 

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

New York City has the slowest car travel among US cities, according to a new analysis. In the last year, drivers lost an average of 94 hours from traffic.

The average time it took to drive 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), a distance roughly equivalent to the perimeter of Central Park, in the middle of New York City last year was 31 minutes and 6 seconds, according to a traffic index compiled by Amsterdam-based geolocation technology specialist TomTom. The Big Apple, which became the first city in the US to institute congestion pricing this week, is working to reduce gridlock, pollution and carbon emissions by charging a $9 toll for drivers entering parts of Manhattan during peak hours.