Metro Denver drivers spent an average of 37 hours in traffic last year

Drivers navigating metro Denver last year spent an average of 37 hours stuck in traffic congestion — 16% more than in 2022, but 11% below pre-pandemic delays — and jams increasingly arise at midday rather than just during rush hours, according to a global transportation data firm’s latest analysis.

The average speed of vehicles moving toward downtown Denver remains around 14 mph, faster than the 11 mph in New York City and Chicago. But riding a bicycle where unimpeded routes are available can be faster. And when the Regional Transportation District’s public transit functions as it was designed to, riding a bus or train can be faster than driving a car.

The analysis was performed by the Seattle-based company INRIX. The numbers reflect a changed methodology, following the COVID-19 pandemic, that company officials say incorporates data from more commuting routes to more accurately reflect urban mobility.

The analysts compare data from 946 cities in 37 countries. In the United States, Denver ranked 22nd for traffic delays.

The increase here — up from 32 hours in 2022 and down from about 41 hours in 2019 — jibes with similar increases in large U.S. cities, where the average is 42 hours a year lost in traffic, costing the U.S. economy an estimated $70 billion.

Drivers since 2020 in metro Denver and other cities have faced markedly more traffic jamming during midday — between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. — in addition to the traditional morning and evening rush hours, INRIX senior analyst Bob Pishue said in an interview — a trend attributed to the post-pandemic rise of hybrid working arrangements.

“Driving delays in Denver are still down compared with a few years ago and you may be better off for now. But traffic congestion, barring any massive economic recession, appears to be continuing to go up. That’s the general trend and it is what we expect in the near future,” Pishue said.

Metro Denver drivers devote nearly a work week a year to navigating traffic, and the INRIX analysis estimated the delays cost metro Denver $831 million a year and individual drivers $640.

Colorado Department of Transportation officials and regional planners for years have been wrestling with how to contain traffic, encouraging the expansion of public transit and building more high-density housing concentrated around bus and train hubs for workers so that residents can drive less. The highway widening at the core of metro Denver’s massive $1.6 billion T-REX project and the construction of arterials such as Peña Boulevard to enable follow-on new development no longer are seen as a solution.

Planners anticipate more heavy traffic down the road.

“The biggest driver of future congestion is going to be population growth. It is slowing, compared with the past 30 years, but we estimate roughly 1 million more people over the next 30 years,” Denver Regional Council of Governments mobility analytics program manager Robert Spotts said.

“The capacity of roadway systems is not going to be keeping up. Will people continue to have that same desire to travel as much, to go as many places, even in these congested conditions? Our models say they will. That will result in far more demands, compared with the capacity we have, and significantly more congestion.”

Hours spent stuck in traffic means less time to do other things.

“It means lost productive time, lower quality of life, excess carbon emissions from oil and gas, reduced air quality and increased frustrations,” Pishue said. “It also means delivery trucks and semi trucks sit in traffic longer, which increases the costs of goods sold. And there’s the health aspect — adding stress. Maybe you cannot catch your kid’s ballgame. Maybe you miss a work meeting. Maybe you can’t get to your doctor appointment on time.”

Drivers adapt. Some turn to book recordings, podcasts and language study. This has led to rising concerns about distracted driving, a factor in Colorado’s near-record traffic fatalities. Tempers also flare.

If the congestion increases, “driver frustrations will increase,” Pishue said. “That can lead to reckless behavior.”

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