Exit 133A on Interstate 95 to the Fairfax County Parkway in Washington, D.C., is the worst traffic hotspot in the country. This is according to a new study that identified the worst traffic in US cities.
INRIX, a transportation analytics firm, produced the study by analyzing data from more than 100,000 traffic hotspots in the 25 most congested US cities.
The economic cost of hotspots was also calculated in terms of wasted time, lost fuel and carbon emissions over the next decade.
“Many cities are calling for increased transportation infrastructure spending to fix ailing roads, bridges and transit networks,” said Bob Pishue, a senior economist at INRIX. “By identifying traffic hotspots and analyzing their root causes, cities can effectively combat congestion and maximize present and future investments.”
INRIX Roadway Analytics identified and ranked 108,000 traffic hotspots identified by the INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard. The ranking was determined by an “impact factor,” which is based on the duration, length and frequency of traffic jams.
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The impact factor score enabled INRIX Research to estimate the economic costs at the road level and provided a metric to analyze the health of the transportation network within each city or metro area.
Drivers at the Interstate 95 exit in Washington D.C. traffic hotspot spent an average of 33 minutes at the location. The average length of the traffic jam at Exit 133A was nearly 6.5 miles.
If the D.C. hotspot is not mitigated by the year 2026, the overall cost of congestion could be $2.3 billion, according to the study.
New York had more traffic hotspots (13,608) than any other city analyzed. However, Los Angeles topped the ranking with the highest overall impact factor, due to the severity as well as the high number of hotspots (10,385).
This also means LA pays the highest price. Congestion at these LA locations could potentially cost drivers $91 billion by 2026, if congestion doesn’t improve.
The impact of LA hotspots, and the potential cost to drivers, was 42 percent higher than the second ranked city, New York City, and three times higher than Washington D.C. (ranked third).
Atlanta and Dallas round out the top five, with Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Miami and Boston making up the top 10.
The estimated economic cost to drivers due to wasted time, fuel and emissions in the 25 cities amounts to $481 billion by 2026. When extrapolated to a national level, traffic hotspots could total almost $2.2 trillion over the next decade.
Click here to see the study and the worst traffic cities and corresponding hotspots.
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