Even gridlocked Los Angeles is a better place for commuters than Toronto and its neighbouring municipalities, says a study conducted for the Toronto Board of Trade.

It takes people in Greater Toronto an average of 80 minutes to commute to work, round trip, the study found.

That’s 24 minutes slower than Los Angeles, and the worst among 19 cities including New York, London, Chicago and Berlin.

While acknowledging that the measurements for some U.S. cities may be underestimated, the study called Toronto’s performance “embarrassing.” The figures blend commute times for both drivers and public transit users.

“Toronto’s commuting problems give rise to serious congestion issues,” the report notes.

At 76 minutes, Montreal wasn’t much better than Toronto. New York measured an average commute of 68 minutes, while first-place Barcelona reported an average commuting time of just 48 minutes.

Despite Toronto’s transportation problems, the Ontario government delayed $4 billion in expansion projects for transit lines in Toronto and York Region as part of last week’s provincial budget.

Carol Wilding, chief executive of the Board of Trade, noted that a plan exists to deal with transportation issues in Greater Toronto, but it exists mostly on paper.

“It was 80 per cent unfunded, and now with Thursday’s provincial budget, it’s 90 per cent unfunded,” said Wilding on Monday as she released the report.

The study which calls itself a “scorecard on prosperity,” noted that on most measures Toronto scores well as an attractive place to live, and has succeeded in attracting residents.

But it scores poorly on attracting investment, leading to questions about how easy it will be to sustain the Toronto region economy.

It found that as the recession took hold of the economy, the City of Toronto suffered less than its suburban neighbours, although all lost ground.