AMSTERDAM, Jan. 7, 2025 — (PRNewswire) — TomTom (TOM2), the leading location technology specialist, today released the 14^th edition of its annual Traffic Index , providing data and insights on traffic trends in 500 cities across 62 countries throughout 2024. This year's report is the largest-ever, with data collected for more than 100 new cities. Using unified metrics, cities are ranked based on their average travel time, as well as congestion level.

Findings reveal significant trends in urban mobility, with U.S. cities generally experiencing increased traffic congestion and slower traffic speeds compared to 2023. Globally, out of the 500 cities included in the Traffic Index, 379 (76%) saw their overall average speed decrease compared to 2023. Despite this decrease, average speeds under optimal conditions, characterized by free-flowing traffic, remained stable and even showed slight improvements in most cities. This suggests that the observed deterioration in average speeds is primarily driven by dynamic factors affecting congestion levels, rather than changes in road infrastructure.

Overall, the U.S. experienced an 9% increase in congestion compared to 2023 (15.4 vs 14.1).

Additional key findings include:

• New York, San Francisco, and Honolulu were the U.S. cities with the slowest average speeds
• In New York (city center), a typical 6-mile trip took an average of 30 minutes (average speed: 12 mph) - and up to 35 minutes in the Brooklyn area.
• Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Miami topped this year's list of most congested cities
• New York is the nation's most congested city at peak hours, with 94 hours lost due to congestion for a 6-mile return trip (+2h42 vs 2023)
• Providence, RI, showed the largest percentage increase in congestion among U.S. cities, with a jump of almost 50% from 2023 (from 21% to 31%)

Ranking: The top 10 U.S. cities with the slowest average speeds in 2024 

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