By the numbers
Traffic delays for Milwaukee and Madison area commuters reached record highs in 2024, data from the Texas A&M University Transportation Institute’s Urban Mobility Report show.
The total number of hours lost by the average auto commuter to traffic delays per year has risen since the 1980s, the earliest for which data are available. In 1982, the average commuter in Milwaukee spent a total of 13 hours over the course of one year delayed in traffic, consuming an average of 2 excess gallons of gas. By 2024, Milwaukeeans wasted 57 hours in traffic, consuming an extra 38 gallons of gas. That represents a 44 hour increase over 1982, or nearly two full days of additional commuting time.
In Madison, the picture is similar. Annual delays per commuter are up from 15 hours in 1982 to 52 hours in 2024, and excess gasoline consumption is up from 3 gallons to 16 per commuter. Both cities saw a dip in traffic delays during 2020 to around 29 hours, but both have bounced back since.
For other metro areas in Wisconsin, figures going back to the 1980s are not available. However, in 2024, the metro with the third-highest average commuting delay was Kenosha, at 42 hours per driver per year. Wausau and La Crosse rounded out the top five at 34 hours per year apiece.
