Indianapolis commuters spent more time in traffic last year
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The average Indianapolis car commuter is spending 50 hours annually stuck in traffic amid changes in when and why we drive, a new report finds.
Why it matters: The findings from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute's 2025 Urban Mobility Report put some hard data behind a common feeling among many drivers: Traffic has been getting worse — or at least different — since the COVID-19 pandemic.
What's happening: Traditional rush hours are returning. Yet there's also been a "noticeable rise in midday congestion," the report finds, possibly tied to remote and hybrid work changing people's schedules and travel behaviors.
- Thursday has overtaken Friday with the highest share of weekly delay — perhaps "because some of the Friday travel is not associated with commuting, whereas Thursday has more of a typical commute pattern."
The big picture: Indy commuters don't have it as bad as other cities. The average U.S. driver spent a record 63 hours last year stuck in traffic.
- That's the most since 1982, when the dataset began.
Zoom in: The 50 hours tracked in the Indianapolis metro in 2024 is two hours more than 2023, but two hours less than the record high of 52 hours in 2019.
- Other than the 26 hour outlier created by the conditions of 2020, the 18 hour average in 1982 remains our city's lowest on record.
Zoom out: Indy's commuter average was the highest in the state, ranking ahead of Columbus (29), Evansville (25), Terre Haute (25), Fort Wayne (25), Elkhart (24), Lafayette (23), South Bend (23), Anderson (22), Bloomington (21), Muncie (17), Kokomo (15) and Michigan City (11).