Is Boston the worst city for traffic?

Transportation data company Inrix says Boston traffic is the second-worst in the United States, and fourth-worst on the planet, according to its annual Global Traffic Scorecard. It's not just Boston it's everywhere, said Matt Brooks. It doesn't matter what road you are on. It doesn't matter what time of day it is.



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The numbers bear that out: Boston is the fourth-worst city in the world for congestion, with the average driver losing 134 hours — more than five days — to traffic last year, according to a new report.

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Boston traffic ranked fourth worst in the world, study says.

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Boston is a friendly, walkable city with a great public transportation system known as the T (MBTA). All of Boston's downtown areas and neighborhoods are accessible by train, bus, trolley, or water transportation.

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Historically Bad Roads The main reason why traffic is so bad in Boston is because the city is really old. In fact, many of our existing roadways were originally built before automobiles even existed. At this time, there was almost no central planning to speak of.

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The 10 worst traffic cities in the United States
  1. Boston, Mass. (Photo by John Mottern/Getty Images)
  2. Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) ...
  3. Chicago, Ill. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) ...
  4. New York City, N.Y. ...
  5. Los Angeles, Calif. ...
  6. Seattle, Wash. ...
  7. Pittsburgh, Pa. ...
  8. San Francisco, Calif. ...


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1. Brussels, Belgium. Brussels takes the top spot as the hardest city to drive in, with an overall score of 23 out of 100. In Brussels, the average person spends 236 hours in rush hour a year, with the average speed during this time being 12.4 mph.

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Los Angeles ranked as No. 6 in the U.S. with drivers losing the most hours in traffic. Chicago took the top spot, with drivers there losing 155 hours, followed by Boston (134 hours), New York (117 hours), Philadelphia (114 hours), and Miami (105).

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Boston sees 655 violent crimes per 100,000, making the city less safe than 83 percent of US cities. The violent crime rate in Boston is nearly double the national violent crime rate. People in Boston have a 1 out of 153 chance of becoming a victim of crime, compared to a 1 in 296 in the state of Massachusetts.

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Topography. Boston isn't just “Boston.” The City of Boston is part of a densely packed confederation of cities and towns that stretches for dozens of miles, and that together contains between four and five million residents, depending on where one draws regional boundaries.

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The least stressful U.S. city was Houston, coming in at 25, with Seattle at 39, Chicago at 40, Boston at 43, Miami at 44, Los Angeles at 45, and Washington at 47. On the other end of the scale, Mumbai, India, was the most stressed city, followed by Lagos, Nigeria, and Manila, Philippines.

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Violent crime in Boston Violent crimes include rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault, and murder. In 2022, Boston's overall crime rate dropped by 1.5% but there was an increase of 1 homicide compared to 2021 (for a total of 41 murders).

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Boston is a safe city to visit. The United States has a 2021 Global Peace Index ranking of 122 and if you stay aware of your surroundings and know the best places to visit, you'll have a fantastic time. In this busy city, you may see petty crimes such as purse snatching and pickpocketing.

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New Jersey is the worst state to drive in, as it has the highest road congestion nationwide and the second-worst road quality, a new study by MoneyGeek finds.

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