Torontonians spent 100 hours of our precious lives in traffic last year, on average
If only we had a 19-kilometre LRT line to take instead
We’ve been critical of Toronto transit lately. The Finch West LRT reported 350 delays in less than one month, after a runner raced it from one end to the other and won by 18 minutes, and the Eglinton Crosstown’s launch date continues to be a mystery despite being under construction for 15 years.
Related: Never mind, the Eglinton Crosstown doesn’t actually have an opening date
If we sound cranky about the TTC, don’t worry, we can also be grouchy about the local vehicular experience.
According to an annual traffic index released by TomTom, a tech company that makes navigation apps, Toronto was the second-most congested city in Canada last year, with only Vancouver ahead of us. The average speed during rush hour was 18.9 kilometres per hour, and the average speed on highways generally was only 53.6 kilometres per hour.
Valentine’s Day 2025 saw the most traffic congestion of the entire year—let this be a lesson to you this year: buy your heart-shaped boxes of chocolate earlier, and maybe take public transit, if the public transit near you is functional (see above).
The report’s most staggering statistic comes from the calculation of how much time individual Toronto drivers spent in rush hour traffic overall: 100 hours! That’s more than four days! And nearly four hours more than the previous year. You could watch almost all of Heated Rivalry in that time.
A recent study found that the mental health of Torontonians is declining. Could the two be related?
Related: The Ontario Line will have protective barriers installed on its platforms
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
