Seattle traffic congestion ranks among nation's worst

As workers returned to the office in droves, Seattle-area drivers faced longer and costlier commutes last year.

Seattle drivers spent an average of 63 hours in traffic in 2024, a 9% jump from the previous year, according to the annual Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard released Monday. That makes Seattle the 10th-most congested U.S. metro last year.

New York City topped the list, with commuters there losing 102 hours to congestion last year — equivalent to 4.25 days of sitting in traffic. Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Philadelphia rounded out the top five.

In Seattle, traffic delays increased commute times by five hours compared with the year before and by 38 hours over the 2020 average, when amid the pandemic a major chunk of the region’s workforce ditched their commutes in favor of working from home.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2025/01/07/traffic-congestion-returning-office-workers.html