Drivers spent more time in traffic in Austin than in any other Texas city, according to new research from transportation data firm INRIX.
Austin ranked 14th overall in INRIX's yearly traffic analysis of the most congested cities in the U.S. and 84th in its worldwide rankings.
The study looked at the average time spent in traffic and the U.S. Department of Transportation's calculation for how much that time cost drivers based on median household income data.
Time lost in Austin traffic last year amounted to 104 hours per driver, the study notes, and cost drivers on average $1,452. That's above the national average of 97 hours and $1,348 per driver. It's also more than Houston, which ranked just above Austin at the 13th overall spot on the INRIX list.
While Houston drivers spent 98 hours in traffic at a cost of $1,365 per driver in 2018, the overall cost of congestion for the city was more than triple Austin's costs – $3.8 billion, compared to $1.2 billion, according to INRIX.
The animation above shows how quickly drivers could travel outward from the city's center, according to an INRIX analysis.
The study found Austin drivers averaged a speed of around 24 mph during peak traffic times and just over 46 mph during less-congested hours. It took Austin commuters five minutes on their last mile, traveling at 13 mph for the last leg of their drives.
Nationally, Boston ranked first in the INRIX study, followed by Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
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