L.A. Traffic The Worst, Study Says...

[Fleet 500]

An article in today's newspaper (Los Angeles Daily News)...
"L.A. Traffic The Worst, Study Says."

"According to a report by INRIX, a Washington-based traffic-information provider, studying America's roadways..."

Here is the list:
1. Los Angeles-Long Beach
2. New York-Northern New Jersey
3. Chicago-Naperville
4. Washington D.C.-Arlington
5. Dallas-Fort Worth
6. San Francisco-Oakland
7. Houston-Sugar Land
8. Boston-Cambridge
9. Philadelphia-Camden
10. Seattle-Tacoma

Yesterday, after a minor freeway collision, the freeway traffic was backed up for an hour or so. I jumped on my bicycle and took these videos:

YouTube - Traffic, San Fernando Valley, Pt. 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=depLka1IbHA)
YouTube - Traffic, San Fernando Valley, Pt. 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APSrYo_srY4)
YouTube - Traffic, San Fernando Valley, Pt. 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdJaap9FhWQ)
YouTube - Traffic, San Fernando Valley, Pt. 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2fCyYWE0rY)

[Dino Scuderia]

Hard for me to believe Atlanta GA. is not in the top 10.

[Niko_Fx]

L.A. is probably nothing next to Caracas. I remember driving about 10 miles for 2 hours during rush hour.

[Fleet 500]

I wonder what city has the worst traffic in the world? Maybe Tokyo? Or Mexico City? Or Hong Kong?

[The_Canuck]

Toronto.

[Fleet 500]

Toronto.
Really?

[Niko_Fx]

In Caracas let's say that the highway has 4 lines, people will make 7 out of it. They'll use the emergency lane and all the space available to move... even so, you can be stuck without moving a single bit for hours.

Rush hour on the highway is like going to the mall, there's friggin bums selling everything, they even sell beer on the streets (I should have taken a picture of that) for you to refresh while you wait lol...

[my porsche]

L.A. City The Worst, My Porsche Says.

Anyway, I wonder when this "study" was, because I live in Houston, and have been to Los Gilipollas, sorry, Los Angeles, twice in the last year, and it is nowhere near as bad as Houston.

[NSXType-R]

I wonder what city has the worst traffic in the world? Maybe Tokyo? Or Mexico City? Or Hong Kong?

London, Berlin and Paris probably has it bad too.

Their medieval streets don't help. :D

[CamNismo]

I cant believe that the "Belt Way" in D.C. is #4...When I was on it every car you looked at looked like it just came out of a wreck & it was insane traffic that just would not move for like hours....Im sure LA is the worst but I think D.C. would have been higher on the list.

[henk4]

Cairo springs to mind, Bangkok is also a good candidate. Beijing is busy but somehow civilised.

[dydzi]

Beijing is busy but somehow civilised.

still waiting when all the people will move from bicycles to cars...

[jorismo]

London, Berlin and Paris probably has it bad too.

Their medieval streets don't help. :D

Berlin isn't actually that bad. I was there last year and it wasn't nearly as bad as Paris. But that's because I think that German drivers are more disciplined than French drivers.

[NSXType-R]

Cairo springs to mind, Bangkok is also a good candidate. Beijing is busy but somehow civilised.

I heard quite the opposite about Beijing. They're crazy!


Berlin isn't actually that bad. I was there last year and it wasn't nearly as bad as Paris. But that's because I think that German drivers are more disciplined than French drivers.

Figures. :D

[henk4]

still waiting when all the people will move from bicycles to cars...those on bicycles were the dangerous ones. It may have changed, 2001 was my last visit there

[drakkie]

In the netherlands the stretch from Rozenburg-Hoogvliet and the other way round is the most congested. We have had some colleaugues that took 3,5 hours to get from here (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=nl&geocode=&q=spijkenisse&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.02306,76.992187&ie=UTF8&ll=51.870238,4.315138&spn=0.00628,0.018797&t=h&z=16) to the CSAV Rotterdam (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=nl&geocode=&q=spijkenisse&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.02306,76.992187&ie=UTF8&ll=51.90726,4.42042&spn=0.003137,0.009398&t=h&z=17). Very sour for our customers as they had no time to buy anything more than a few bottles and some cigarettes..

[teatako]

In Caracas let's say that the highway has 4 lines, people will make 7 out of it. They'll use the emergency lane and all the space available to move... even so, you can be stuck without moving a single bit for hours.

Rush hour on the highway is like going to the mall, there's friggin bums selling everything, they even sell beer on the streets (I should have taken a picture of that) for you to refresh while you wait lol...


that´s nothing. in Mexico City, you can get your car washed. say youre stuck in traffic. there´s this little cart (like those of the people who wash your car in the parking lot ) here and a dude who soaps your car. maybe 90 feet away(or something like that), the next dude rinses. another 90 feet away the last dude dries. their placemente is actually not about the distance but about the time it takes to get there, so they place themselves around 10 minutes away from each other,

[Timothy (in VA)]

those on bicycles were the dangerous ones. It may have changed, 2001 was my last visit there

My dad was there last year, and he says it's pretty bad. From what I've heard, Beijing adds 1000 cars to its roads every day (or some similar ridiculous amount). Most of those people didn't have driver's licenses 6 months ago.

I'm not surprised at Washington's high ranking on the list. I've never driven in the top three cities, so I can't compare them, but Washington-area gridlock is impressive. Recently there was an article in the newspaper about some of the questionably-legal methods people use to get around some of the worst traffic. In this area, rush hour has been expanded to four hours by popular demand :D.

[Fleet 500]

Cairo springs to mind, Bangkok is also a good candidate. Beijing is busy but somehow civilised.
Yes, I forgot about Bangkok. A high population density and a lot of cars.