…Not New York, but the Washington, D.C. area. Each motorist there wastes a shocking 67 hours a year sitting in traffic, according to a new Texas A&M Transportation Institute report.
The New York metro area rolls in at #4 on the list, with commuters spending an average of 58 hours a year on clogged roads. Here are the top cities on the list:
1. Washington DC-VA-MD
2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana CA
3. San Francisco-Oakland CA
4. New York-Newark NY-NJ-CT
5. Boston MA-NH-RI
In addition to valuable time, drivers are also wasting precious fuel. In the New York area, each driver uses an extra 38 gallons of gas a year because of congestion.
As if that’s not enough bad news, traffic jams across the country are only expected to get worse.
This is the sort of traffic doomsday researchers are predicting:
—In 2011, Americans endured 5.5 billion hours in delays, a number projected to hit 8.4 billion hours by 2020.
—Wasted fuel, an estimated 2.9 billion gallons in 2011, will soar to 4.5 billion gallons in 2020.
—The overall national congestion cost could hit a mind-boggling $199 billion in the next decade.
Tell us: How many hours a week do you think you spend in traffic in your car? Where are the worst spots? Leave your comments below.
(Journal News file photo of traffic backed up on Interstate 84 in Southeast)
2 Comments
In my commute to and from different parts of NYC, for example Brooklyn or Queens, the worst parts of the commute are typically down in the Bronx or over any of the bridges. However, lower Westchester can be pretty bad too during rush hour, especially the overcrowded and outdated parkways like the Hutch or the Cross County. I can spend anywhere from a half hour to 2 hours just sitting in traffic each day – that’s not including the actual travel time itself, when I’m actually driving at normal speed.
[...] a recent study found that the D.C. area takes the top prize for most hours wasted in traffic, New York City wins [...]