Chicago overtook New York for the worst traffic of any major U.S. city as NYC saw traffic decline after congestion pricing went into effect.
Although the average time Americans spend in traffic rose by 6 hours nationwide in 2025, New York City saw a significant decline in traffic thanks to the congestion pricing program that went into effect in January.
As Kristin Toussant explains in Fast Company, just one month after the program began, one million fewer vehicles entered the congestion pricing zone. “In 2024, five New York City roads made Inrix’s top 25 busiest corridors list. In 2025, just one remained: a section of Interstate 278, also called the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (which is not in the city’s congestion pricing zone).” NYC drivers how save as much as 21 minutes each way.
New York City drivers lost 102 hours to traffic in 2025. In Chicago, that number was 112, a 10 percent increase from 2024. Cities with the sharpest increases in traffic hours include Baltimore and Philadelphia (both 31 percent), Atlanta (13 percent), and Austin (18 percent).
According to analysis company Inrix, the typical 49 hours of delays due to traffic cost Americans an average of $894 per driver per year. “Across the country, congestion has cost the U.S. more than $85 billion in 2025, up 11.3% from 2024.”
Read the full story: After NYC implemented congestion pricing, Chicago became America’s worst city for traffic
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