Report Ranks NYC Among Worst US Traffic Cities

ConsumerAffairs published a May 13 report ranking traffic conditions across the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, and New York City placed third overall. The study combined three measures — average commute time, daily hours of congestion and fatal car crash rates — to compare metro areas nationwide. Los Angeles ranked first, Washington, D.C., ranked second and New York followed in third, according to the report. Patch cited the findings in local coverage highlighting where New York landed in the national list. ### Which report put New York near the top of the list? ConsumerAffairs said its research team analyzed the nation’s 50 most populous metropolitan areas using average commute times, weekday congestion and fatal crash data. The report was updated May 13, 2026, and framed traffic as both a delay problem and a safety issue. 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.” (consumeraffairs.com) The ConsumerAffairs ranking differs from reports that focus only on time lost in traffic. This one blended congestion and commuting burdens with fatal crash rates, which meant a metro area could score poorly for different reasons than another city near it in the standings. ### Where did New York City rank, and who was ahead of it? New York ranked No. 3 overall, behind Los Angeles at No. 1 and Washington, D.C., at No. 2, ConsumerAffairs said. (consumeraffairs.com) The report’s summary said the top three metros share a mix of long commute times and heavy congestion. San Francisco ranked fourth and Houston fifth. Los Angeles led the list largely because drivers there face 8 hours and 27 minutes of average daily congestion on weekdays, ConsumerAffairs said. (consumeraffairs.com) Washington, D.C., had the nation’s longest average one-way driving commute at 33 minutes. ConsumerAffairs did not present New York in the summary as the single worst metro on any one measure, but included it among the metros with the heaviest overall burdens. ### What exactly was measured in the ranking? The report used three inputs: average commute times, daily hours of congestion and fatal car crash rates. ConsumerAffairs said it assembled those measures for the 50 largest metro areas and then produced an overall ranking. That approach put road safety alongside delay and travel time rather than treating congestion alone as the deciding factor. (consumeraffairs.com) Patch’s local item on the ranking described the same methodology, saying the study was based on hours of congestion, commute times and fatal crash data across the 50 largest U.S. metros. That matches the ConsumerAffairs description of how the list was built. ### Why did New York end up so high? ConsumerAffairs said New York was part of a top tier defined by long commute times and heavy congestion. (consumeraffairs.com) The report did not, in the portions publicly visible through search, single out one dominant factor for New York in the way it did for Los Angeles’ congestion or Washington’s commute times. It did, however, place New York alongside the country’s largest and most heavily traveled metro areas. (patch.com) New York has appeared near the top of other congestion studies as well, though those rankings use different methods. A 2024 INRIX-based Patch report said New York City had the worst traffic in the world that year, underscoring how frequently the city appears in congestion comparisons even when the underlying metrics change. ### How should commuters read a ranking like this? (consumeraffairs.com) The ConsumerAffairs report is a comparative snapshot, not a real-time traffic advisory. Its value is in showing how one metro stacks up against others when delay, commute burden and fatal-crash exposure are considered together. For New York commuters, the ranking adds another national benchmark as city and state officials continue to pursue congestion-reduction measures. (patch.com) The ConsumerAffairs rankings remain available on the company’s automotive research pages, and Patch’s New York traffic section continues to track local transit and street-safety developments. Those sources are the next places readers can check for updates tied to the May 13 analysis and any follow-on local reporting. (consumeraffairs.com) (consumeraffairs.com)