The United States ranks among the world’s least congested countries overall, even as some of its major cities grapple with heavy traffic, according to a new report from TomTom. The annual Traffic Index, released Wednesday, analyzed data from 2025 showing a global rise in congestion but positioning the U.S. favorably compared to other nations.
The U.S. placed 54th out of countries worldwide with an average congestion level of 19%, far below top-ranked Colombia at nearly 50%. Japan ranked ninth at 34%, the United Kingdom 23rd at 27% and France 48th at 20%. Globally, congestion increased by 5 percentage points to 25%, based on more than 2.2 trillion miles driven, highlighting issues like higher emissions and reduced productivity. In the U.S., congestion rose by 4 percentage points from the previous year.
Los Angeles led U.S. cities with nearly 60% congestion, followed by Honolulu and San Francisco. New York City remained the slowest, with drivers losing 120 hours annually to peak-hour traffic on a typical 6-mile commute, compared to 80 hours in Los Angeles. Globally, Lima, Peru, was the worst, with 188 hours lost. Among the top 10 most congested U.S. cities, Atlanta saw the largest increase at 4 percentage points, while Boston declined by 3 points.
“As cities grow and adapt, we must address the multifaceted challenges that lead to increasing traffic congestion,” said Ralf-Peter Schäfer, TomTom’s vice president for traffic and travel information. The report uses standardized metrics for fair global comparisons, enabling better urban planning, according to Jinhua Zhao, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
TomTom Launches Area Analytics
Last week at the Transportation Research Board meeting in Washington, the company released its Area Analytics, which allows users to access all data available in TomTom’s annual Traffic Index, allowing users to have customizable analytics.
Area Analytics is an advanced traffic analytics tool that enables cities, governments and organizations to define any custom area and analyze traffic over specific days, months, or years, the company said.
In other TomTom news:
- Visteon VC 0.00%↑ has partnered with TomTom to deliver the world’s first in-car local AI conversational navigation assistant. Through this partnership, Visteon’s cognitoAI platform integrates TomTom’s Automotive Navigation Application to create a privacy-first navigation experience, the company said.
- TomTom launched a new software development kit at CES 2026 designed to streamline the integration of its mapping and navigation technologies, allowing developers to bring advanced automotive features to market more quickly. Leo Sei, vice president of product management at TomTom, described the SDK as a complete package that encapsulates the company’s core offerings. “It’s all of TomTom in a box. That’s the best way to put the SDK,” he said. “So it’s all the layers of our Orbis map data, the lane level, the traffic, the road closure, our best navigation and routing, guidance, all of this coming in one box.”
