Traffic Congestion Costing More In Time, Money
The Los Angeles area has the nation’s most brutal traffic, according to two studies of urban road congestion.
Research performed by the Texas Transportation Institute and the American Highway Users Alliance ranked that metropolitan area as No. 1, but Washington, D.C., and Seattle were not far behind.
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 |  Michael James - Transport Topics |
| Drivers on Interstate 5 through Seattle will run into the third-worst bottleneck in the nation when they encounter traffic from I-90. |
One study found that urban drivers encounter congestion on two-thirds of the trips they make and that delays have tripled since 1982 for drivers in urban areas. Both studies say there is no magic bullet for traffic woes and that easing congestion will only happen through better road planning and building.
According to TTI, a rush-hour trip taken by a trucker in Los Angeles than takes 50% longer than one taken during off-peak times. The AHUA study found Los Angeles had four of the top 10 traffic bottlenecks in the country.
