Top 10 Worst American Cities for Traffic
The worst traffic in the U.S. is getting even worse. It pollutes as the vehicles idle. It wastes the time of trucks and passenger cars. The annual delay per driver is in excess of 47 hours per year. It creates delayed shipments. It wastes more than 2.3 billion gallons of fuel each year.
10. Detroit, MI
Detroit is nicknamed the Motor City for good reason. The center of the American auto industry comes in at #10 in the list of cities in which commuters spend the most time stuck in traffic.
9. San Diego, CA
Next up on the list is a place best known for its great weather. However, San Diego doesn’t have such great traffic. The San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos metropolitan area has a population of around 3-million. It’s the 17th largest metro area in the nation, but it ranks #9 for its traffic time delays.
8. San Jose, CA
Commuters to the north of San Diego fare a little worse on the roads. San Jose is only the third largest city in its own state, but the tenth largest in the entire nation. Locals waste away precious time sitting in traffic on I-280, I-880, and I-680.
7. Orlando, FL
If you’ve ever visited this tourist haven you’ve probably experienced the delays that frustrate the locals. I-4 is notorious for its miserable back-ups. The I-4 ‘corridor’ also makes its way through Tampa, Lakeland, and Daytona Beach.
6. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
I-20, I-30, and I-45 are the source of much frustration for residents deep in the heart of Texas. The 12 counties that make up the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area have a total population of around 6.3-million. It is also the fastest growing metro area in the country.
5. San Francisco-Oakland, CA
Coming in at #5 on the list is the San Francisco-Oakland region. San Fran is a major financial and cultural center, while Oakland’s growth is attributed to its manufacturing and transportation hub.
4. Houston, TX
Only New York City is home to more Fortune 500 headquarters in its city limits than #4 Houston. While that’s great for jobs, it’s the people who fill those jobs that are finding themselves in some pretty bad congestion.
3. Atlanta, GA
No matter what route you take to work in Atlanta, whether it be I-85, I-75, I-285 or I-20, you’re not going to avoid the traffic jams. The ‘capital of the South’ is also home to the south’s worst traffic.
2. Washington D.C.
Getting anything accomplished in Congress can often take a long, long time. Maybe it’s because just getting to Congress can take a long, long time. Commuters in the D.C. area waste the second most amount of time sitting in their cars.
1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
Hurray for Hollywood! But thumbs down to the surrounding traffic. Coming in at #1 on the list is the Los Angeles metropolitan area. No where else in the country do people waste more hours in traffic than in L.A.
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[...] The worst traffic in the U.S. is getting even worse. It pollutes as the vehicles idle. It wastes the time of trucks and passenger cars. The annual delay per driver is in excess of 47 hours per year. It creates delayed shipments. It wastes more than 2.3 billion gallons of fuel each year. Read ahead [...]
I find it hard to believe that Manhattan would not be on this list
I know the shortcuts in Atlanta and I’m not telling you
=== popurls.com === popular today…
yeah! this story has entered the popular today section on popurls.com…
I also find it hard to believe Chicago is not on this list. I have been in Traffic in most of these places. Chicago is by far one of the worst. Should be at least #3.
The sad part about highway congestion in Atlanta is that using surface streets takes MORE time than if you just sit there on the highway. Atlanta has some of the worst traffic management I have ever experienced, and nonexistent public transport. The city also happens to be run by total morons, which doesn’t help. And they wonder why no one takes Atlanta seriously.
What’s with the goddamn popup in the middle of the page that cannot be closed or moved. I suggest that your web designer go back to school and get his ged.
I’m with Gary. How the heck did New York, New York not make this list?
Also agonereader, if you’re using Internet Explorer, shame on you. However if you’ve chosen to use a real web browser, like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome/Chromium, get yourself a couple addons called Adblock Plus and Flashblock. I don’t see this popup you are describing.
Seattle should be on this list. Trying to get from the West side to the East side of Lake Washington or vice versa during rush hour can take forever. The 8 mile trek from my place to work has been known to take over an hour and a half , throw in a Sounders or Mariners game into the mix and it can take almost 3.5 hours.
The picture of “San Diego” is not a picture of San Diego. It is a picture of Tijuana and yes traffic in TJ is like that, but I have never seen SD traffic that bad.
that picture of san diego, is across the boarder coming into san diego from TJ
and, i dunno if you’ve been there lately, but i almost never hit any traffic now that that 15 is wider. and traffic isn’t too bad on the 5 either, even during rush hour
THANK YOU! Good grief, at least get a picture of the right city!
Download and install ad block. It’s not the web designer’s fault you’re lazy.
Most people who live in NYC don’t even own a car. Many people who live in the surrounding areas drive to a local train station and commute to the city by rail. Those that choose to drive are royally screwed, but if the metric is average number of hours spent sitting in traffic, I’m not surprized NYC didn’t make the list. If you look closely there are no Northeaster cities on the list at all. You can argue DC, but thats more like Mid-Atlantic anyway. The Northeast features enough public tranist and population density that many people don’t have cars, so the average time lost isn’t as high.
How is New York city not on that list?
This list totally depends on the population you are looking at. If it’s just city residents, then DC shouldn’t even be on the list, but the suburbanites in MD and VA have it pretty rough. 2-3 hour commutes are not all that uncommon for people, many of whom live 40+ miles out, and “rush hours” are 6-10 AM and 3-7 PM. Throw in TONS of road construction and lousy public transit and you’ve got a miserable time driving.
Manhattan’s not a city, just a part of NYC. And even though I’m surprised the NYC are isn’t in the top 10, at least the majority of the population uses mass transit!
NYC traffic is nothing compared DC, Chicago, Orlando…… Hell Minneapolis’ traffic is worse than NYC…….. get off NY’s DICK
As I scrolled though the list I kept waiting and waiting for LA to appear. I’ve sat in SF/Oakland and San Diego traffic and they’re nothing compared to LA.
I’m sure NY traffic is bad, but in LA the public transit option is a bus, and guess what? They sit in traffic, too.
Okay, so I lived in the Detroit metro area for 26 years, 9 of which I was old enough to drive. Then, in 2007, I got married and moved to Philly. I don’t know where they got their info, but driving in Philly is 10 times worse than driving in Detroit…
I’m sure NYC has its gridlocks, but so does every major city. In NYC traffic jams are a non-issue since the public transit is so robust. Subways rule.
I live in LA and can tell you, the traffic is the worst in the country including NY. People who visit absolutely say there is no way they could live here because it takes them 2 hours to move 20 miles. The same is true in Orange County that is South of LA.
I travel for work and I think San Diego is the only city I haven’t been to on this list. DC area has to be number 1. From 6 till about 10 AM forget about it, you’re going to sit in traffic. From 3 PM until about 7 PM you will sit in heavy traffic. Also, these drivers have no clue on how to drive, they drive slow, they are not courteous, and they will drive slow in the left lane. Chicago is managed well. I wouldn’t say it’s a top 10 bad place. NYC is managed very well compared to this top 10. There’s just a lot of people driving in such a tiny place in NYC but it moves. I was happy to see Houston on here. It’s horrible as well.
Is it me or is the pic for DC not actually DC?
Notice the construction speed limit says “80″. Really? 80 mph speed limit in a construction zone? Methinks it’s 80 km/hr. Also notice the “3.2m” sign. That pic of DC is actually Canada!
Hi, the pic for San Diego traffic, is actually in Mexico, during the border crossing time.
exactly! and That’s actually in MEXICO.
Are you all mad? How is Chicago not number one? How is it not even on this list? I challenge anyone to drive from U.S. Cellular field on the South Side to O’Hare airport at 5:00 on a weekday and see how that goes. From there you might get to St. Louis more quickly than O’Hare.
I don’t know how in good conscience the 2nd city isn’t on there. Especially now because the xpressway 290 ir whatever has lanes closed for major repairs and you can save gas by killing the engine and pushing the 5 feet you move forward because it takes a great deal of time to move inches. Especially at onramps because people don’t know hot to merge in and everyone slows down. Not to mention IL drivers have no business on the road. Im from St louis and everytime someone does a serious asshole move, ie being in far right lane then slowly cutting people off to get in left, or cutting you off and slowing down, your almost garunteed to see a white lincoln license plate staring back at you on ze bumper.
[...] Top 10 Worst American Cities for Traffic – Smashingusa.com [...]
[...] Atlanta area is home to some of the worst traffic among major cities in the United [...]
[...] Originally Posted by OrlFlaUsa Under the correct circumstances, MARTA is fine. To go to work, most are going to opt for their cars, thus why Atlanta has some fairly heavy traffic. Well, to go to work, most people in every city opt for their cars. That's just the way our society works and Atlanta is far from being unique in that case with the juxtaposition of it's PT system and car usage. For example, Washington D.C. has the second best and second most used subway in the country, the 4th most used PT system overall, and they have the system that Atlanta should have built. Guess what, DC has worse traffic than Atlanta even though our metro populations are basically the same. (References here, here, and here.) [...]
[...] Top 10 Worst American Cities For Traffic [...]
[...] a myth Study: Women prefer geeky men to athletic ones China traffic jam could last into September Top worst American cities for traffic Grandpa celebrates 107th Birthday with Big Mac Cake Rare “fire tornado” caught on tape [...]
lol that isn’t even really TJ, that’s the boarder crossing from the TJ side…
this is the end result of overpopulation and what happens when everyone has three, four, five kids..if people weren’t such
greedy slobs they would have a couple kids and be happy.
this planet is bursting at the seams.
No doubt, traffic is big issue in United States but I do know why you missed New York and Chicago etc in this post.
[...] a myth Study: Women prefer geeky men to athletic ones China traffic jam could last into September Top worst American cities for traffic Grandpa celebrates 107th Birthday with Big Mac Cake Rare “fire tornado” caught on tape [...]
Umm… birth rates are on the decline, and have been for a while: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/27/us-birth-rate-sets-record_n_697131.html
It’s called poor urban planning and an addiction to cars.
Miami!??
Because NY traffic isn’t that bad relative to many of these places. I know, I drive into the city frequently. Can it be terrible? Yes. Is it systematically terrible? No.
Finally someone said Miami!
[...] you Angelenos are #1 on the Top 10 Worst Cities for Traffic of 2010. You are wasting time burning fuels when you could [...]
LOL, anon. If they needed a picture of DC traffic I could send them one any day of the week. I can’t believe MSN would blaspheme to the point of presenting a FOREIGN photo as our NATION’S CAPITAL! Someone should be fired.
Detroit mi yes traffic out cold I just move mi yes I hear traffic has change in Detroit considering the fact that many people work and the metro area. Is 6 million residents
haha everyone in New York is complaining that its so bad…have any of you been in LA traffic? The I-10 is particularly bad especially near downtown LA….hell would be a word to describe it…
As “Anngie” says above, it is indeed Mexico, more specifically Tijuana. I’ve lived in San Diego my whole life and I have to say that traffic here isn’t all too bad. Sure, the inner city is a bit crowded, but to be honest what city isn’t. The times when there is traffic is usually because people drive to work to make a living and then head back home and rest to start a new the next day. Besides that I’ve really never had much problem with the traffic.
[...] President, the Redskins (I like to think so), and its HORRIBLE traffic. Washington, DC has the 2nd worse traffic in the United States, behind Los Angeles. But today was one of those rare days in which everyone [...]
[...] Sources- http://smashingusa.com/top-10-worst-american-cities-for-traffic/ [...]