To the surprise of probably no one, Toronto was yet again called out for its terrible traffic in a new global traffic ranking.

The 2025 Global Traffic Scorecard by Inrix ranked the world’s worst cities for traffic congestion. Toronto made the list but – fortunately? – it’s not as high as you think.

According to the report, Toronto took the 34th spot, which could be worse but could also be better. Even U.S. tourists are appalled by our traffic, calling it worse than Los Angeles or India. Ouch. Celebrities constantly call out local gridlock, too. But given the frequency of highway closures and lane restrictions, can we blame them?

Alas, it appears our gridlock issues aren’t as bad as Montreal’s, as the report indicates that the Quebec metropolis has the worst traffic congestion of any other city in Canada. Overall, it ranks as the 28th worst city in the world. 

 

Using three years of transportation data, the report looks at travel times between a city’s downtown core and surrounding neighbourhoods. For Toronto specifically, it looked at the busiest commutes from downtown Toronto to cities such as Markham, Pickering, and Mississauga.

But here’s something positive – for once. Congestion has improved ever so slightly compared to last year, as the scorecard shows a total of 59 hours lost, down 3 per cent from 2024. 

Which cities have the worst traffic in the world?

If you guessed Istanbul, Chicago and Mexico City, you’d be correct (and also a psychic) as these three take the top 3 spots respectively. 

Of the 941 cities, it’s actually Cumberland, Maryland, that seems to have rush hour figured out. It’s ranked as the least congested city in the world, and we’re maybe just a bit jealous. 

Now, is this a bad time to mention portions of the subway will be closed this weekend? 

Here are the world’s ten worst cities for traffic according to the 2025 Global Traffic Scorecard.

Istanbul
Chicago 
Mexico City
New York City 
Philadelphia 
Cape Town
Dublin
London
Paris
Los Angeles