Worst Car Commutes In The U.S.

Being stuck in traffic anywhere sucks. Imagine being stuck in traffic multiple hours a day, five days a week. For some of you PriusChatters, it may be a way of life. To figure out who has the worst commute in the nation, the Daily Beast studied and quantified the Top 20 Worst Commutes in America. Here's a link to the top 50:

50 Worst Commutes: America's Highways to Hell - The Daily Beast

Factors that went into the list included length of the traffic corridor, longest rush hour travel time along that stretch of road and the time it takes to drive a mile along that stretch during the highest-volume rush hour. They also calculated how much worse a stretch of road is during its worst rush-hour period versus normal driving. California's Delta Highway/CA-4 took that honor handily taking 318 percent longer to travel during rush times.

The data was gathered from GPS and smartphone tracking of four million vehicles by a company called INRIX, which the Daily Beast compiled into the top 20 list. Now, the top 20 worst commutes in the nation.

Carolina traffic doesn't even come close to these nightmares!

Who's thankful for a Prius now:

1. Riverside Freeway/Calif. Highway 91 eastbound, Los Angeles
2. Lunalilo Freeway/I-1 eastbound, Honolulu
3. California Delta Highway/CA Highway 4 westbound, San Francisco
4. I-95 southbound, Washington, D.C.
5. Bruckner/Cross Bronx Expressways (I-95 southbound), New York
6. I-35 southbound, Austin-Round Rock, TX
7. CT Turnpike (I-95 northbound), Bridgeport. I-405 southbound, Seattle
9. Bayshore Freeway (U.S. 101 southbound), San Jose, Calif.
10. Kennedy/Dan Ryan Expressways (I-90/I-94 eastbound), Chicago
11. I-5 northbound, Portland, Ore.
12. Calif. Highway 78 eastbound, San Diego
13. I-494 eastbound, Minneapolis
14. Southwest/Eastex Freeways (U.S. 59 northbound), Houston
15. Southeast Expressway (I-93 northbound), Boston
16. Hampton Roads Beltway (I-64 westbound), Virginia Beach, Va.
17. Baltimore Beltway Inner Loop (I-695 eastbound), Baltimore
18. Schuylkill Expressway (I-76 westbound), Philadelphia
19. North Freeway (I-35W northbound), Dallas
20. Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101 northbound), Oxnard, Calif

I've done #4 and #19 and definitely concur. I'm surprised they didn't just list all of Houston.

LA is the worst I've seen. Bumper to bumper six lanes across the highway in one direction.
76 is bad in Philly because it's only 2 lanes, and traffic growth is way beyond that now.
It was built for less traffic.

A lot of roads were built decades ago when there were fewer cars. And the lanes can't be increased on most without great expense (and we all know where the money goes these days). The result is traffic jams.

:rockon:Your comments convince me that we can't continue to build more and more highways to accomodate growing traffic volume. It's time our major centers begin planning for mass transit with supporting accommodations, schedules and prices. I also believe that large corporate employers appropriately begin plannning for work at home, or regional offices. I'm a huge advocate for home offices especially using video, internets, extranets, etc. Mass transit is something I would be willing to pay higher taxes whether it be more subs, regional transits, trolleys and trains and so on. We do have commute alternatives besides clogged highways.

13. I-494 eastbound, Minneapolis

If they think that is bad, they should try heading south down 100 around I-494... much, much worse!

I used to do the #3 commute every day for almost a year. It got so bad that I had to move out of that region and back to the South Bay.

I have been stuck in #9 a few times, too. Nasty. I hate HWY 101 in CA. I never take that unless I have to, And will never again in my life take HWY 4. It's almost a joke now on morning traffic to hear about that one getting backed up every morning.

Love my Prius!

Used to do #16 every day, I would not want to see 1-15 given what I know.

Atlanta isn't much better.

Been there and I agree...
1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 16, 19 & 20.

Works for me. I hate commuting of all types. Well, walking's not so bad, especially when it's only about 10 meters.

I've done #13, and that road sucks even on a sunday afternoon!

Remember #1, Hwy 91 for 2 years Corona/LAX/Corona. 2.5 to 4 hrs to get 60 mi. home on Fri evenings. Went graves first chance on shift bid.

I can concur about LA during rush hour. Heck, it can be congested many hours after rush hour is over.

Some of the SF Bay Area and Seattle area are pretty terrible in rush hour too.

The same company as mentioned by the OP has the INRIX National Traffic Scorecard which lists Los Angeles as the most congested metro area.

I'm just glad to be a Bay Area native. I know all the shortcuts, backroads, and best times to travel. Most people who live is the Silicon Valley are non native. I almost never sit in any traffic anymore...

Was that before or after they completed the 105 fwy?

Number 15 in Boston I know, but I absolutely adore traffic jams these days. You could rename this list "Top 20 Destinations for Prius Smugness".

I've done #9 and #15. 15 is much worse because hey, Boston drivers.

During. Remember the movie Speed. They used our parking lot as a staging area while filming. Part of it just opened, but the unfinished bridge they "jumped" was still there when we moved back to TX.

I don't know how people live like that. I moved out of the south for several reasons and traffic was one of them. I couldn't stomach it anymore. I felt like an ant in a container burning my life up behind the wheel.

i moved 50 miles 25 years ago to a smaller house just to be closer to work and avoid #15 and i have never looked back. the peace of mind will proly add 10 years to my life!

Yes, that is/was an awesome movie.

You're stuck on the 91 in traffic. What do you do? What do you do?