Portland tied with Chicago and Washington, D.C. for the eighth most congested metro region in the nation.
The TomTom Traffic Index found that all three cities had an overall congestion level of 26 percent in 2015, meaning the extra travel time on both highways and non-highways anytime of the day compared to what should be free-flowing conditions. The 2015 TomTom Index was released Tuesday.
Nick Cohn, TomTom’s senior traffic expert, was surprised Portland rated so high, considering the city’s reputation for alternative transportation, like MAX trains and bicycling. But after analyzing traffic patterns in the Portland area, Cohn says much of the congestion is caused by people commuting to employers outside Portland, like high-tech companies in Hillsboro and Washington County, including Intel, the state’s largest private employer.
(READ MORE: Portland Tribune)
