Where does traffic in the busiest cities rank?
A traffic study examined roadway safety across the 100 most populated U.S. metropolitan areas.
Streetlight Data, a mobility analytics platform, recently released its Safe Streets Index, which assessed safety based upon vehicle miles traveled, speed differential, speed-based pedestrian risk, truck activity and residential speeds.
“By measuring these roadway usage behaviors, safety planners can begin to identify specific, regional areas for safety improvements,” Streetlight said.
Vehicle miles traveled was the highest weighted factor in Streetlight’s methodology because of its strong correlation with fatality data.
Major cities like New York and San Francisco ranked highest for vehicle miles traveled, while the lowest-ranked metro areas were concentrated in the Southeast.
Speed differential on the same roads creates “especially dangerous conditions,” Streetlight said.
The most-populated cities ranked lowest in this category, likely a result of frequent acceleration/deceleration in heavy traffic. Eight of the 10 locations with the worst speed differentials were in California.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says the safest roads are those where everyone moves at the same speed.
Spring is the most deadly time for speed-related crashes in the U.S.
⚫ Slow down
⚫ Follow the limit
⚫ Save lives — yours and others pic.twitter.com/SwcEjdodwt— nhtsagov (@NHTSAgov) March 4, 2026
College towns and tourist destinations ranked best for pedestrians.
Truck activity ranked best in the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and parts of the Northeast.
Streetlight said it found that truck-related safety risk is driven more by a metro’s role in national freight networks than by population.
Dallas and Houston were the only large metros ranked in the top 10 for limiting truck activity.
Streetlight also provides truck data by weight type, route type, industry and more on its website.
In determining residential speed risk, the study measured the percentage of vehicles traveling at least 5 mph above the speed limit.
Streetlight’s analysis revealed that residential speed performance, the lowest-weighted factor, is likely a function of highly local street design and enforcement choices, rather than density.
Top 10 overall
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.
- Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.
- Boise City, Idaho
- Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash.
- Ogden, Utah
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.
- Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass.
- Tucson, Ariz.
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif.
Streetlight’s rankings of street safety in all 100 metropolitan areas are available online. LL
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