Report Ranks NYC Among Worst Traffic

ConsumerAffairs updated a national traffic ranking on May 13 that placed the New York metropolitan area among the worst in the country for drivers. The report examined the 50 most populous U.S. metro areas using three measures: average commute times, daily hours of congestion and fatal car crash rates. New York ranked third overall, behind Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., according to the study. The findings add another data point to a long-running debate in the city over road space, transit investment and traffic enforcement. ### Where did New York land in the new ranking? New York, New York, ranked No. 3 in ConsumerAffairs’ 2026 list of the worst traffic metros in the United States. The report said Los Angeles ranked first and Washington, D.C., ranked second, with San Francisco and Houston completing the top five. ConsumerAffairs said the three largest metros at the top of the ranking shared a mix of long commute times and heavy congestion. (consumeraffairs.com) Patch’s local write-up, mirrored in an MSN pickup, said the report was framed around how New York compares with other large U.S. metros rather than as a city-only score. That distinction matters because the study evaluates metropolitan areas, not just the five boroughs. ### What numbers did the report use to judge traffic? (consumeraffairs.com) ConsumerAffairs said it analyzed average commute times, daily hours of congestion and fatal car crash rates across the nation’s 50 most populous metropolitan areas. The study cited congestion as both a mobility and safety issue and included crash data alongside travel-delay measures. Michael Manville, a professor of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, told ConsumerAffairs that traffic density is “one of the biggest predictors of a crash.” (msn.com) Washington, D.C., had the country’s longest average one-way driving commute at 33 minutes, ConsumerAffairs said. Los Angeles led the ranking largely because of 8 hours and 27 minutes of average daily congestion, the highest figure in the study. ConsumerAffairs did not present New York in the excerpts surfaced here with a single headline metric comparable to those two top-ranked metros, but it grouped New York with the leaders on both commute length and congestion. (consumeraffairs.com) ### Why is this a metro ranking and not just a Manhattan traffic story? ConsumerAffairs said the unit of analysis was the metropolitan area, which means the ranking covers the wider commuting region tied to New York rather than only streets inside city limits. That approach captures suburban-to-city travel patterns and regional crash data along with congestion inside the urban core. (consumeraffairs.com) New York’s placement also sits alongside other measures that track congestion differently. INRIX data cited in earlier Patch coverage found New York City had the worst traffic in the world in 2024 by hours lost to congestion, a separate methodology from the ConsumerAffairs metro ranking. The two reports are not interchangeable, but they point in the same direction on the scale of delay facing New York drivers. (consumeraffairs.com) ### How should readers interpret the ranking? ConsumerAffairs presented the list as a comparison of metros facing the heaviest mix of delay and road danger, not as a prediction about any single corridor or borough. The report’s methodology blends congestion and safety, so a metro can rank poorly for different reasons. ConsumerAffairs said San Francisco made the top five with a relatively long commute and a low fatal crash rate, while Houston’s place was tied to the highest fatal crash rate among the five worst-ranked metros. (patch.com) That means New York’s No. 3 finish is best read as a regional snapshot built from several indicators. It does not answer narrower questions such as which highway is worst, which borough is most dangerous or whether transit improvements have changed specific commute patterns. ### What comes next for people who want the underlying data? (consumeraffairs.com) ConsumerAffairs has the full 2026 ranking and metro-by-metro breakdown posted on its site, including the methodology used for the 50 largest metropolitan areas. Patch’s New York coverage points readers to that report for the city’s placement and the broader national comparison. As of May 20, 2026, the ranking remains available online for readers who want to compare New York with Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Houston. (consumeraffairs.com)