INRIX, a leading international provider of traffic information and driver services, today released its sixth Traffic Scorecard Annual Report, which revealed that traffic congestion is back on the rise in 2013 after two consecutive years of declines. In the first three months of this year, traffic congestion is up 4 percent compared to 2012. This suggests that after a tumultuous economic year in 2012, the economy is back on the mend bringing increased traffic congestion.

The uptick in traffic congestion in 2013 follows a 22 percent decrease in 2012. The “stop n go” nature of the results indicate an overall economic climate that has not yet returned to pre-recession levels in many areas, including total jobs and unemployment rates.

“Fears over recurring fiscal deadlines and ongoing debt issues last year likely fueled declines in traffic congestion, with businesses and consumers alike taking a ‘wait and see’ approach,” said Bryan Mistele, INRIX president and chief executive officer. “While bad news for drivers, the gains we’ve seen in the U.S. and a few countries in Europe in 2013 are cause for some optimism about the direction of the economy.”

Traffic as an Economic Indicator

With many economic indicators, such as household wealth and retail sales, trending toward the positive in 2013, INRIX’s comparison of congestion in 2012 versus 2013 year-to-date indicates how the overall economic climate affects national traffic congestion. Key global findings include:

• Among all 15 countries analyzed worldwide, only three (Luxembourg, Ireland and the U.S.) have experienced increases in 2013. Only one country had increased traffic congestion in 2012 – Luxembourg. In Europe, the countries with the biggest declines in traffic have the highest rates of unemployment as they continue to struggle through the European debt crisis
• In 2013, traffic congestion in the U.S. increased each month for the first three months of the year – the first such consecutive month increase in two years. This increase is in line with a steady increase in employment in the first three months of 2013 (+1.3%)ⁱ.
• So far this year, 61 of America’s Top 100 Most Populated cities have experienced increased traffic congestion. This is a dramatic shift from 2012, where only six cities experienced increases and 94 saw decreases.
• Seven of 2012’s Top 10 Worst Cities for Traffic in America have experienced increasing traffic congestion in 2013. The largest increase to date is in Boston (+30%), likely a result of the Boston metropolitan area boasting unemployment figures that were 1.2 percentage points lower than the national average in February 2013ⁱⁱ.
• In Europe, traffic congestion fell 18 percent in 2012 and continues to spiral downward in 2013 with a further 23 percent decline in the first quarter. Eighty-one of the 94 European cities analysed have experienced decreases in traffic congestion in Q1 2013.

U.S. Traffic Patterns & Worst Traffic Corridors

By analyzing traffic in the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas in 2012, INRIXrevealed that drivers wasted an average of 42 hours in America’s Top 10 Worst Traffic Cities – the equivalent to one week of vacation. The table below represents the Top 10 Worst Cities for Traffic in America in 2012:

Los Angeles is back at the top of the list in 2012 after falling to number two in 2011 (behind Honolulu). This is likely due to the fact that Los Angeles County gained approximately 90,000 jobs in February 2013 – a growth rate of 2.3 percent. This is the fastest year-over-year growth in employment across the Los Angeles area since the recession began in 2007ⁱⁱⁱ.

Findings also exposed that drivers wasted an average of 62 hours last year on America’s most congested roads. The Top 10 Worst Roads for Traffic in 2012 were:

1. The Cross Bronx Expy (New York: I-95 SB) – Drivers on New York’s worst highway waste over six days each year in traffic.
2. The San Diego Fwy (L.A.: I-405 SB) – Consistently jammed in both directions, the 405 is LA’s worst freeway; the 8.1-mile stretch leading to Mullholland Dr. takes drivers over 50 minutes on Tuesday mornings – the worst day and time of the week.
3. The Van Wyck Expy (New York: I-678 SB) – On Thursdays between 4-5 p.m., drivers crawl at 10 mph, and it takes nearly 40 minutes to travel 6 miles.
4. The Santa Monica Fwy (L.A.: I-10 EB) – It can take drivers up to over an hour (63 min) to navigate the 15-mile stretch from Lincoln Blvd. to Alameda.
5. The Riverside Fwy (L.A.:  CA-91 EB) – Drivers waste approximately six days per year in gridlock on this road.
6. The Long Island Expy (New York: I-495 EB) – New Yorkers waste more than a half hour per day on the evening commute in traffic on the L.I.E.
7. Brooklyn Queens Expy (New York: I-278 WB) – It takes approximately an hour to go 10 miles on this highway during the Tuesday evening commute.
8. San Diego Fwy (L.A.: I-405 NB) –A 13-mile stretch up to Getty Center Drive takes 40 minutes at a crawl of 20 mph.
9. The Dan Ryan/Kennedy Expy (Chicago: I-90/I-94 WB) – Chicago commuters waste approximately one work week (5 days) every year in traffic on this popular road to O’Hare Airport.
10. The Santa Ana/Golden St. Fwy (L.A. I-5 SB) – An 18-minute trip on this 17-mile stretch takes almost 50 minutes on weekday afternoons

Additionally, the Scorecard uncovered several other interesting trends regarding national commute times during rush hour. According to INRIX, the worst times to be on the roads in terms of delay are weekday mornings between 7-8 a.m. and weekday evenings between 4-5 p.m. The busiest morning commute hour is Tuesday from 8-9 a.m., and the busiest evening commute takes place on Friday from 5-6 p.m.

Global Traffic Trends

While the Scorecard tells the story of rising traffic congestion indicative of a recovering economy, the report shows that, unlike the U.S., Europe traffic congestion is decreasing as the Eurozone continues to struggle through its debt crisis. Traffic congestion fell 18 percent across Europe in 2012 and continues to spiral downward in 2013 with a further 23 percent decline in the first quarter.

Aside from Luxembourg, the remaining 11 European countries analyzed in the report continue to show steep declines. Even Germany, the long-considered economic stalwart of the EU, showed declines in 2012. European countries with the biggest shifts in traffic congestion include:

Luxembourg has the largest increases in traffic with congestion up by 38 percent in 2013. Ireland is up 10 percent in the same period. Traffic congestion in Europe’s financial capital of London is up 23 percent in the first three months of 2013.

The Trafficonomy: Big Data Driven Insights Extend Beyond Urban Mobility

Leveraging trillions of data points collected and archived by INRIX’s Traffic Intelligence platform, the Scorecard publishes the most up-to-date information regarding overall congestion and the worst roads for traffic across America. By analyzing hundreds of thousands of road segments totaling nearly 2 million miles of major highways, arterials and city streets nationwide – with a special focus on the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas – the Scorecard informs the ongoing debate of one of the nation’s most frustrating and intractable issues: traffic congestion. Reviewed by regional departments of transportation, academics, media, city planners, economists and everyday drivers, the INRIX Traffic Scorecard has become a trusted benchmark for understanding traffic congestion and an indicator of the health of our local economies.

INRIX’s initial 2007 Traffic Scorecard Annual Report was transformative in its ability to illustrate how “Big Data” crowd-sourced in real-time from actual vehicles and mobile devices traveling our road networks could be archived and analyzed to provide a comprehensive, consistent and timely measure of traffic congestion nationwide. The 2008 Annual Report documented the dramatic 30%+ plunge in congestion from 2007 caused by 2008’s skyrocketing fuel prices, high unemployment and sharp reductions in consumer spending during the recession – validating traffic’s value as an economic indicator. The 2009 and 2010 Annual Reports showed that the drop in congestion had ended and appeared to “reset” to 2004/2005 levels, prompting INRIX data analysts to predict that future traffic patterns will be heavily influenced by the rate and pace of economic recovery. In 2011, this prediction proved true as traffic congestion decreased 24% as a result of a sluggish economy.

Dynamic, monthly updated Scorecard information, as well as global key findings from 2011-Q1 2013, is available at http://www.INRIX.com/Scorecard.