Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal among most congested cities in North America

TORONTO – Three Canadian cities rank among the worst urban centres in North America for traffic congestion, according to an annual report.

GPS maker TomTom released the results of its annual congestion index report Thursday, identifying traffic hot spots across North America.

According to the report, Vancouver tops the list of most congested city in Canada with a population more than 800,000, and second in North America, slightly behind Los Angeles.

Travel times in Vancouver are 33 per cent longer than when traffic is light and 68 per cent longer during the evening commute, according to the report.

Toronto follows Vancouver as the second worst city in Canada, sixth in North America, with travel times 62 per cent longer during the night-time rush.

Montreal rounds out the top 10 worst cities in North America and third in Canada. However, the study shows that even though Montreal is ranked tenth overall in congestion, the city has the third worst travel time during the evening drive home in North America with an average of 71 per cent longer travel time.

“TomTom’s Annual Congestion Index provides accurate insight into the world’s most congested cities,” said Ralf-Peter Schäfer, Head of Traffic at TomTom, in a press release. “This detailed knowledge of the entire road network, helps businesses and governments make more informed decisions about how best to tackle and avoid congestion.

The 10 most congested North American cities ranked overall:

Los Angeles (33%)
Vancouver (32%)
Honolulu (30%)
San Francisco (29%)
Seattle (26%)
Toronto (25%)
San Jose (25%)
Washington (25%)
New Orleans (25%)
Montreal (25%)