Boston Loses Title Of Worst Traffic In US To New York City

BOSTON (CBS) – The COVID pandemic had countless impacts over the last year. One area there may have been a positive improvement, however, was on the roads.

Transportation analytics company INRIX has released its annual study of traffic in major cities, and Boston had the fourth-worst ranking.

The good news? Boston was the worst in the nation last year, and by the numbers had massive drop-offs in several areas.

In 2019, Bostonians lost 149 hours due to traffic congestion. With the state largely shut down for much of 2020, that dropped by 68% to 48 hours.

The cost per driver in 2020 was $711, a savings of $1,517 from 2019.

From 2019 to 2020, collisions dropped by 33%.

The only number that increased for drivers in 2020? Year over year, the average downtown speed in Boston was up by 25%.

New York City claimed the top spot from Boston as the city with the worst traffic in this year's rankings.

See the entire list here.