LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The western U.S. city of Los Angeles topped the list of the world's most gridlocked cities for the sixth straight year, showed a study.
INRIX, Inc., a leading company in transportation analytics and connected car services, published its latest annual Global Traffic Scorecard Monday, listing Los Angeles as the world's most congested city in 2017. INRIX analyzed 1,360 cities - up by nearly 300 cities from the 2016 Scorecard - across 38 countries.
Drivers in Los Angeles spent an average of 102 hours last year in traffic jams during peak congestion hours, costing drivers 2,828 U.S. dollars each and the city 19.2 billion dollars from direct and indirect costs. Direct costs relate to the value of fuel and time wasted, and indirect costs refer to freight and business fees from company vehicles idling in traffic, which are passed on to households through higher prices, according to the study.
"I have to spend nearly three hours each day on the way when I drive from my home in Azusa in the eastern part of L.A. area to my office near Los Angeles International airport in the western part of the area," said Jay Zhu, a local commuter.
"It's boring and tired to drive more than two hours each day on the way but this is the normal life for many Angelenos. In order to avoid peak congestion hours, I am permitted by company to arrive two hours later. But I also have to leave office two hours later. It's impossible for me to have supper with my wife and daughter during workday at all," he told Xinhua.
Based on the findings, the United States ranked as the most congested developed country in the world, with drivers spending an average of 41 hours a year in traffic during peak hours, which cost drivers nearly 305 billion dollars in 2017, an average of 1,445 dollars per driver.
Both New York and San Francisco, the second- and third-ranked cities in North America with 91 and 79 hours spent in congestion respectively, have a similar average congestion rate as Los Angeles (13 percent), but show different commute patterns. San Francisco, for example, had the highest congestion rate on arterial and city streets during the peak commute hours, while New York holds the top spot during the daytime, the study finds.
"Congestion costs the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars, and threatens future economic growth and lowers our quality of life," said Dr. Graham Cookson, Chief Economist at INRIX, in a statement.
"If we're to avoid traffic congestion becoming a further drain on our economy, we must invest in intelligent transportation systems to tackle our mobility challenges." he added.
