Besides LA, which metro area has the worst traffic in the country?

40 comments

  4. Of the ones I’ve driven (not many), I’d have to say driving through Atlanta.

  8. DC can be pretty terrible. I don’t drive much in other cities so I’m not totally sure. The city itself is actually not bad but the surrounding freeways get pretty abysmal.

  9. Atlanta is pretty terrible, imo

    Atlanta started exploding in size at some point in the 90s and the roadways haven’t always kept up with the traffic.

  10. San Francisco Bay Area traffic is horrendous. I remember New York traffic being really bad also but there were more mass transit options.

  12. Having driven a significant amount in LA, Boston, and NYC areas, I’d say NYC. Note that this is metro areas, not just the main urban core.

    Boston area has the worst designed and worst signed roads, LA has brutal traffic over an absolutely insane distance, but the NYC area has roads that are way worse designed than LA’s in an area that’s way bigger than Boston. So NYC wins for the combination of factors.

    (But city centers, Boston is still the worst).

  13. Atlanta is my worst experience but I just got back from Seattle and that place is already at its capacity and still growing.

  14. After living in SoCal, I can safely say Philadelphia is among the worst. A lot of it is depending on exactly where you’re going to/from but I’d contemplate ending my life if I had to drive on I-76 from the western suburbs into Philly on a daily basis.

    At least there are train lines that make the trip.

  17. Having driven in and around many metro areas, including living for a time in NYC and in SF, I say with some confidence that the answer is Atlanta.

  18. I always felt Seattle was as bad as any. With the lake dividing the city there are very few ways to move around it.

    Manhattan is constant gridlock.

  19. Austin, Atlanta

    NYC is a silly answer, no one drives there’s too much traffic

  20. I know it’s not the question, but nowhere in the US compares to Jakarta. 12 million? population? Bumper to bumper for hours and hours on end going speeds if you wreck you die and you’ll just be pushed off the road so traffic can continue. I’ve never been more terrified.

  21. Houston. Why are there so many people? There’s so much road? I just don’t understand WHY it’s so crowded.

  27. Morning-Houston
    Rush hour-DC
    Moving Van-NYC
    Worst drivers-Baton Rouge
    Scariest in fog-Causeway (over Lake Pontchatrain)

  28. Baton Rouge has consistently been near the top of worst traffic among medium to small cities. Between being hemmed in by two rivers to the east and west, a road grid that’s probably the better part of a century old now, disproportional suburbanization meaning many thousands of people are taking one of 5 or 6 roads into the city every single day, and almost nonexistent limited access roads, it’s a mess. Just a handful of strategically placed car wrecks and road closures can literally paralyze the whole city for hours at a time.

    Edit: Oh, and I didn’t even mention the I10-112 corridor slicing the city in half.

  34. Boston and Atlanta.
    I go around and sometimes thru northern Virginia often. Because I kinda know what to expect I just flow with it!

    I’ll go into DC to get some I71 only on Saturday or Sunday. If you’re not right by the mall, it’s usually a nice drive.

  35. Atlanta, Boston, and specifically the DC-Baltimore area. Holy shit, the DC area is the worst.

  36. I lived in SoCal and I’d say the traffic I experienced in Miami was worse

  39. Houston has to be in the conversation and now with this heat wave, we have freeways buckling almost every day now….it’s a nightmare.

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