Although the average time Americans spend in traffic rose by 6 hours nationwide in 2025, New York City saw a significant decline in traffic thanks to the congestion pricing program that went into effect in January.
As Kristin Toussant explains in Fast Company, just one month after the program began, one million fewer vehicles entered the congestion pricing zone. “In 2024, five New York City roads made Inrix’s top 25 busiest corridors list. In 2025, just one remained: a section of Interstate 278, also called the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (which is not in the city’s congestion pricing zone).” NYC drivers how save as much as 21 minutes each way.
New York City drivers lost 102 hours to traffic in 2025. In Chicago, that number was 112, a 10 percent increase from 2024. Cities with the sharpest increases in traffic hours include Baltimore and Philadelphia (both 31 percent), Atlanta (13 percent), and Austin (18 percent)…