Worst traffic, by city.

[GrySql]

I am certainly not proud to say that the area where I live, and drive, only came in as the #2 worst city for the most time spent in traffic.

This also equates to a lot of social issues caused by this depressing state of affairs. This 'time spent' makes it more important than ever to have a vehicle that can get you back and forth with the minimum of fuss, safely. The FFH is pretty good at taking care of its passengers.

 

How does your nearby city compare?

 

http://www.weather.com/travel/commuter-conditions/news/worst-traffic-cities-2015

 

 

[Texasota]

GrySql, Minnesota is a nice place to live. Traffic is not burdensome as long as you stay away from the twin cities (#23 in the ratings) and don't mind driving in snow. Come on over. Oh, the taxes are not much fun. ;)

[DeeCee]

My two nearest cities (Hot Springs and Little Rock, Arkansas) don't make the list but my pre-retirement city of St. Louis is No. 35 on the list. I have to laugh when the locals around here complain about the traffic. The traffic is one thing I do not miss about my old hometown. During my working days I often visited the top 2, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. I don't miss those days either.

[Cobra348]

Jeez this was close ... Buffalo, NY (#49) is 156 miles from me to the West. Albany, NY (#43) is 177 East of me. How can I miss - being between two such congested - but not THAT congested - cities? I'm a winner all around I think.

[Cobra348]

My two nearest cities (Hot Springs and Little Rock, Arkansas) don't make the list but my pre-retirement city of St. Louis is No. 35 on the list. I have to laugh when the locals around here complain about the traffic. The traffic is one thing I do not miss about my old hometown. During my working days I often visited the top 2, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. I don't miss those days either.

Oh, good grief.. Last time I was in Hot Springs was the New Years they took the gambling out of town and shut down the casino (was a stern-wheeler on the lake), took all the slots out ... way back in the '60s. I was stationed at Little Rock at the time.

[GrySql]

GrySql, Minnesota is a nice place to live. Traffic is not burdensome as long as you stay away from the twin cities (#23 in the ratings) and don't mind driving in snow. Come on over. Oh, the taxes are not much fun. ;)

Thanks for the invite, I've been there twice, very nice. Our CA taxes are amazing too, and my electric company (SCE) has the highest rates in the lower USA. Sigh.

 

A little MSP story...

Long ago we landed at MSP on Northwest Air, when it was time to depart the plane left the ramp, taxied out and stopped, then had to return to the ramp. After about an hour the passengers were asked if we wanted to catch a later flight because the anti-lock brake alarm was lit, they assumed the ABS had failed on the aircraft. The pilot told us the aircraft was going on to the next destination anyway as it had a long runway, hey, it was just the brakes! Half the passengers got off, but what the heck, we went, it was an anxiety ridden landing. :rating:

We survived but didn't fly NW Air after that (it's now Delta). ;)

[Riggo]

Yay! I'm the winner ?

[jeff_h]

Yay! I'm the winner

 

We're #1! We're #1! I'm so proud... kinda.

[talmy]

For an individual, this is pretty meaningless. It all depends on where you live and where you work in the city. Portland, OR is tied for 12th yet I neither work or live in the city. In fact, I've got a 1 mile commute with no traffic lights and one stop sign (for each commute). I'd guess the people with the worst commutes here are those that live in Vancouver, WA and work in Portland and have to funnel across one of two bridges. But they get great tax advantages, so maybe it all works out.

[tr7driver]

5 cars at a stoplight is the worst traffic we get out here in fly over country.

[Texasota]

5 cars at a stoplight is the worst traffic we get out here in fly over country.

Does Chicago count as fly over country? I will drive hundreds of miles out of my way to avoid Chicago. ;)

[corncobs]

9th place I expected worse for Chicago but what I don't get is 12th for Atlanta which in my opinion is at least equally bad.

[GrySql]

9th place I expected worse for Chicago but what I don't get is 12th for Atlanta which in my opinion is at least equally bad.

The test criteria may not take a lot of traffic data into consideration, primarily it's just time spent stuck in traffic. CA does not have effective mass transit, which makes commuting rely on personal vehicles. Remember the statistics that Los Angeles County alone has more cars than all but 9 States and has over 11 million people? There is your answer.

I was born here a long time ago and believe me it is very different now, everywhere, and I worked in Los Angeles.

[CCalvinN]

I live about 80 miles from #12 Detroit (used to live in one of it's suburbs) and can say that the highway traffic there near rush hour is just terrible. Not only is it gridlocked, the drivers are just plain rude. If you politely wait your turn to merge into traffic, you'll be waiting a LONG time. The only way in is to practically threaten to drive into someone.

 

I also used to live in #9 Chicago. The highway's in Chicago aren't that bad. Congested? Yes. But you can get through them fairly easily even in rush hour. The city though... Chicago taught me all about defensive driving. And everyone knows the best defense is a good offense! Thankfully in such a big city it's so easy to just use other transportation options. Taxis are everywhere and there's always the L. Even though it's only a three hour drive away I'll just take the train in when I visit and leave my car at home.

Edited October 28, 2015 by CCalvinN

[tr7driver]

Texasota, Chicago isn't fly over country, people actually fly to Chicago. :headspin: I'm halfway between Chicago and St Louis, no one wants to fly here.

 

Not only are the roads in Chicago congested, but the highways in Illinois have not been maintained properly for years and are crumbling. When you cross into Illinois from any of the neighboring states you can tell right away from the poor road surface -- like hundreds of miles of speed bumps. We also use Amtrak when we need to go to the city center. A round trip ticket is less than a parking garage. Unfortunately, Amtrak's on time performance is dismal.

Edited October 28, 2015 by tr7driver

[jeff_h]

We're #1! We're #1! These pics are from 2013 but things haven't changed much -- in the lower pic from the 395/495 intersection that shows red southbound, it will go green eventually, but the red lasts for 44 miles on really fun traffic days. So many friendly people, smiling faces everywhere you look... almost.

 

 

Edited October 28, 2015 by jeff_h

[tr7driver]

I have a kid in Oxen Hill. I just hate to drive there.

[jeff_h]

I have a kid in Oxen Hill. I just hate to drive there.

 

Yep over there on the MD side just at the top of Rt 5 on the lower map, just north of Clinton MD. Sucks there too. :shift:

[hybridbear]

Since getting an EV, traffic doesn't bother me anymore. I live only 1.5 miles from the office, so I usually walk, even in the winter. My wife drives about 4.5 miles to work. She chooses to take roads that parallel the freeway, rather that deal with getting on & off it. It usually takes her about 12-14 minutes to go the 4.5 miles. Usually the only time I have to drive in traffic is when I'm going somewhere on the other side of the city after work. In those cases, I leave early & allow lots of time. Then I can relax & enjoy the calming silence of the Focus Electric or Fusion Energi, even when sitting in traffic. A car like the Model S with Autopilot would make traffic somewhat enjoyable, since you could let the car do the driving for you. Tesla has said that their Autopilot system works best in fairly heavy traffic, since the car has a lot of data to help guide it down the road safely from all the vehicles around it. Having Adaptive Cruise that can bring the car to a complete stop & then start again from a stop would help a lot too.

[Riggo]

I've wondered if Ford can make the Fusion come to a complete stop and then start again with a software update. It can already slow and speed up on its own, it seems like a simple software update. But alas, I'm getting off topic.

Once again, I'd like to thank the drivers of the DC area for allowing us to win the Worst Traffic By City award. Sitting in miserable traffic has officially been validated.

[jeff_h]

Once again, I'd like to thank the drivers of the DC area for allowing us to win the Worst Traffic By City award. Sitting in miserable traffic has officially been validated.

 

Yeah makes me feel all warm and fuzzy too. :dance:

[machoman1337]

Interesting situation here in the metro Vancouver area.

 

Unlike most North American cities, we have no freeways cutting through the city proper. If you drive from the US border intending to reach Whistler in the north you may be shocked when Hwy 99 terminates and you have to go through 20+ min of regular roads with lights to get back on a highway.

 

At peak hour this actually can be a good thing because the lights mean traffic actually moves at all. On a freeway you can be 100% still for a long, long time.

 

Off-peak though, this is very aggravating as all those lights means it takes longer than you might expect to go a short distance.

 

I commute 19 km a day to work and it can take me 45 minutes to an hour at peak times but on a good day it's still at least 30 minutes, all thanks to the lack of freeways.

 

This is why a TomTom study surprisingly ranked Vancouver as having the worst traffic in North America... while its actual rush hour is not as bad as in other cities, its off-peak hours are frustratingly slow. If I had a freeway to drive on I'd easily finish my commute in 15 min or less at off-peak hours.

[hybridbear]

Interesting situation here in the metro Vancouver area.

 

Unlike most North American cities, we have no freeways cutting through the city proper.

Winnipeg (where my wife is from) also has no freeways. During rush hour it can take over an hour to go 16 km (~10 miles). My wife's commute was 16 km before she moved to the US & it would take her over an hour each way. When I'd travel to Winnipeg to visit, I would always try to avoid arriving during rush hour. She lived in the northwest part of the city & it would take me over 90 minutes to get from where the traffic started in the southern part of the city to where she lived, a distance of about 25 km (15.5 miles).

Edited November 17, 2015 by hybridbear

[tr7driver]

Interesting situation here in the metro Vancouver area.

 

Unlike most North American cities, we have no freeways cutting through the city proper. If you drive from the US border intending to reach Whistler in the north you may be shocked when Hwy 99 terminates and you have to go through 20+ min of regular roads with lights to get back on a highway.

 

At peak hour this actually can be a good thing because the lights mean traffic actually moves at all. On a freeway you can be 100% still for a long, long time.

 

Off-peak though, this is very aggravating as all those lights means it takes longer than you might expect to go a short distance.

 

I commute 19 km a day to work and it can take me 45 minutes to an hour at peak times but on a good day it's still at least 30 minutes, all thanks to the lack of freeways.

 

This is why a TomTom study surprisingly ranked Vancouver as having the worst traffic in North America... while its actual rush hour is not as bad as in other cities, its off-peak hours are frustratingly slow. If I had a freeway to drive on I'd easily finish my commute in 15 min or less at off-peak hours.

 

Been stuck in that traffic headed to Whistler many times. I still love Vancouver. I'd like to retire in that area, but its so darn expensive.

[machoman1337]

Heh, you can get a 25% discount on anything you buy in Canada right now when converting to USD, so feel free to invest before oil prices recover and drive up the CAD again :P

 

I looked up Winnipeg on wikipedia and can confirm hybridbear's comment (never been there myself). Looks like it's just as bad as Vancouver, and probably didn't make TomTom's list only because of a smaller population. It really sucks when the public opposes freeways cutting through the city. While it may not be the prettiest sight, the fact is that a lot of s**t needs to be moved by road transport whether you like it or not, even if you yourself don't drive a car. Ride a bicycle? Probably delivered to the store by a container truck. Need a handyman to fix an appliance? He's driving a pickup to your place. In particular, container truck drivers working at off-peak hours would benefit immensely from a high-speed shortcut through the city, saving time and diesel.

 

Still love my home city though! Well, except when I drive to work in the mornings on entirely suburban roads with 50 km/h speed limits. It's always a rush of relief whenever I embark on a road trip down south (typically to Seattle).