When Toronto's streetcars hit a rare open stretch of road, the metallic grind gives way to an airy electric hum, and for a fleeting moment, there is a feeling that one is hurtling along the knife's edge of the future. Seconds later, the illusion shatters: the car grinds to a halt, at a stop or more often, in traffic.
In something of a Pyrrhic victory for Boston drivers, the city improved its standing in a 2025 ranking of the most congested urban areas - even as the average Bostonian spent a whopping 83 hours languishing in traffic. Compared to last year, INRIX found that Boston drivers lost an additional four hours to traffic jams in 2025, costing about $1,529 per driver. Those 83 hours would be more than enough to log two full-time workweeks, or to watch the entire extended-cut "Lord of the Rings" trilogy seven times over - with minutes to spare.
