Calgary traffic not that bad compared to most cities around the world
Traffic in Calgary can be a pain, but it is so much worse compared to what drivers are facing in other major cities around the world.
Inrix, a transportation analytics company, released its 2025 Global Traffic Scorecard, which provides three years of transportation data that analyzes “mobility within the world’s most congested areas.”
It analyzed travel data across seven continents, 36 countries, and over 900 cities to provide travel delay comparisons, cost of congestion to drivers and regions, and commuting trends.
“Traffic congestion occurs when demand for roadway travel exceeds the supply of roadways. As vehicular traffic builds, drivers, freight movers, and bus riders lose time and spend fuel unproductively,” reads the report.
Three Canadian spots made the top 100 worst traffic cities in the world, with Montreal coming in 28th place overall, Toronto in 34th, and Vancouver in 59th place.
LisaBourgeault/Shutterstock
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Calgary landed in 397th place out of all the cities in the report, with drivers seeing 24 hours lost in congestion.
Our pals to the north of us have it even better, coming in 664th place with only 16 hours lost in congestion, and the lowest amount out of all the Canadian cities on the list.
Calgary’s traffic woes pale in comparison to the 10 worst cities in the world, with Istanbul, Turkey, placing first with a staggering 118 hours lost in congestion, while Chicago followed closely behind in second place with 112 hours lost. Mexico City rounds out the top three, with drivers losing 108 hours stuck in traffic.
Inrix
“In addition to lost time, negative externalities like freight delay, inflationary pressure, and environmental impact are generally exacerbated due to traffic congestion,” reads the report. “While not measured in this report, these externalities decrease our quality of life.”
Check out the full report.
Do you think traffic in Calgary is worse than what this report found? Let us know in the comments.
With files from Isabelle DoctoĀ