ConsumerAffairs: “The link between economic activity and traffic appears to hold true for our ranking: The cities with the worst traffic in America are among the cities with the highest economic output. Geographically, the top-ranked cities are clustered in two regions: Three of the worst cities for traffic are in the South, and the remaining two are located in California. These five cities have the worst congestion of the nation’s major metros:

1. Washington, D.C. – To find the worst traffic in America, look no further than our nation’s capital: Washington, D.C., took the top rank from Los Angeles this year as the city with the worst traffic. The average commute to work in D.C. is 33.4 minutes — the longest in the U.S. On an average weekday in the capital, traffic congestion lasts more than 6.5 hours. That’s the equivalent of spending 71 days in traffic each year, the second-worst total among the cities we studied. There’s one bright spot in Washington’s data, though: The metro ranks in the bottom 10 for fatal car crash rates, with just under six fatal crashes per 100,000 residents. (This tracks with our 2024 analysis of where the worst drivers live, which ranked Washington in the bottom third of nearly 330 cities in dangerous driving.)

Key metrics:

• Average daily commute time: 33.4 minutes (highest)
• Average length of weekday congestion: 6 hours, 35 minutes (second highest)
• Annual rate of fatal car crashes: 5.95 per 100,000 people (ninth lowest)…”