The Odds of Being Late in Michigan

Even the best laid plans can be thrown into disarray when unexpected problems such as traffic congestion create that all-too-familiar feeling of running late.

The particular sense of panic and anxiety that comes with running late is something we’ve all had to cope with at one time or another, and it’s something that people in certain parts of America are exposed to more than others. While the pandemic prompted a downturn in levels of traffic congestion as people opted to work from home, the roads are becoming increasingly busy again. Researchers at BetMichigan.com have used data from Numbeo to find out which cities across the U.S. and Canada are most likely to face delays.  

If you’re hacked off with your commute and wondering how other cities compare, read on to find out the odds of being late in various places across the country.

And don't forget we're also home to everything related to Michigan sports betting, should you want to kill some time while waiting in said traffic.

North American Cities with the Longest Current Travel Time

Ask any American where they would least like to be a regular road user, and the chances are they’ll say Los Angeles — and for good reason, too. The City of Angels sits at the very top of the travel time charts, with average journeys across the city taking 61.07 minutes. With more than 12 million people living in the city’s metropolitan area, it’s little wonder that the roads are so busy.

Similarly heavy traffic affects San Francisco, which sits second in the list of longest average travel times across North American cities. An average one-way journey through the city of the Golden Gate Bridge takes 51.33 minutes, with its complex network of roads and bridges easily becoming congested.

Anyone who has tried to cross Detroit in a hurry will tell you that it isn’t always easy, especially between 6 a.m. and 10 or 3 p.m. and 7 when rush hour hits, pushing one-way journey times across the city up to an average of 45.09 minutes and giving it the dubious honor of having the third longest travel time in the country.

Boston has one of the fastest-growing travel times in North America, with average one-way journeys across the city taking 44.98 minutes — up from 42.10 minutes in 2015.

Almost as likely to be as late as Bostonians are Torontonians, who face an average one-way travel time of 44.92 minutes if they attempt to get from one side of Toronto to the other in a hurry.

Cities Predicted To Have Longest Travel Time By 2030

Anyone hoping their commute to work will get easier or that they’ll have a better chance of turning up to events on time in the coming years might be in for disappointment.

That’s because the predicted travel times for all of the cities mentioned above are higher in 2030 than they are currently, although some are set to increase by more than others.

The predicted travel times for 2030 spell bad news for L.A. dwellers, whose journey across the city is expected to hit an average of 90.82 minutes by the end of the decade — an increase of 48.7% compared to 2022. Staying on time in San Francisco is not set to get any easier either, as increases in congestion put an additional 20 minutes onto the average one-way journey across the city. In 2015 the average journey took 39 minutes, but by 2030 it is expected to take 70.53 minutes — an 80.8% increase!

There is also bad news for Boston, which climbs to third place in the travel time charts when projected for 2030. An increased average journey time of 49.65 minutes is set to become a reality unless the city can address increasing congestion and traffic problems.

Traffic data processing predicts that Toronto will become the fourth most time-consuming city to cross by 2030, as its average journey time increases from 44.92 minutes to 48.03 minutes, and there is a new entrant in the top five with Minneapolis clocking up a 46.61-minute journey time to supplant Detroit, which has a projected 2030 journey time of 45.71 minutes.

Which Michigan City Has The Longest Travel Time?

Detroit is by far the most populous city in Michigan, with a population of 672,662, ahead of Grand Rapids and Warren. So, it comes as little surprise Detroit has the longest travel time in Michigan.

The problem of congestion in Detroit is significant, with current travel times taking 45.09 minutes on average when making a journey across the city.

That figure has been creeping up in recent years, rising from a travel time of 45 minutes in 2015. However, congestion problems are still increasing in Detroit, and by 2030 the predicted travel time is 45.71 minutes, representing a 1.4% increase on 2022 and a 1.6% increase on 2015. 

Methodology

To find out where you have the greatest chance of being late, we analyzed Numbeo’s time index figures, which highlighted the average one-way time needed to transport through the city (in minutes). In order to predict figures for 2023, historical travel data was run through a linear forecast regression model, which calculated future values.

Keep it here at BetMichigan for items like this, and remember we are also home to the best Michigan sports betting apps.