[Malo]

How was your drive to work today? Actually, we already know. We revved up our research engine to learn which city's streets and highways are the most aggravating in America. Our statistical journey ended in the capital of congestion--the District of Columbia. That's right, Washington: first in war, first in peace, and dead last in our ratings.

We arrived at this conclusion--a little frazzled and low on gas--after poring over federal government data regarding miles of roadway per 1,000 people; vehicles per freeway lane; quality of highways; and commuting time. At the Texas Transportation Institute, we found hours of delay per traveler. The insurance industry pointed out the country's most dangerous intersections and told us the average insurance costs by state. The good news: Lincoln, Nebraska; Lubbock, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas, have America's best roadways. Happy trails (continued below...)


!

1. Lincoln, NE A+

2. Lubbock, TX A+

3. Wichita, KS A+

4. Lexington-Fayette, KY A

5. Corpus Christi, TX A

6. (tie) Akron, OH A

Greensboro, NC A

8. Montgomery, AL A

9. Fort Wayne, IN A

10. Kansas City, MO A-

11. Madison, WI A-

12. Anchorage, AK A-

13. Shreveport, LA A-

14. Laredo, TX B+

15. Cleveland, OH B+

16. Spokane, WA B+

17. Pittsburgh, PA B+

18. Rochester, NY B+

19. Toledo, OH B+

20. (tie) Norfolk, VA B+

Oklahoma City, OK B+

22. Birmingham, AL B+

23. Bakersfield, CA B

24. Omaha, NE B

25. Buffalo, NY B

26. Cincinnati, OH B

27. Nashville-Davidson, TN B

28. Colorado Springs, CO B

29. Columbus, OH B

30. Tucson, AZ B

31. Jacksonville, FL B

32. Chesapeake, VA B

33. Durham, NC B

34. Fresno, CA B

35. Milwaukee, WI B

36. Raleigh, NC B

37. Louisville, KY B

38. Garland, TX B

39. St. Petersburg, FL B

40. Tulsa, OK B-

41. El Paso, TX B-

42. Indianapolis, IN B-

43. St. Louis, MO B-

44. Baton Rouge, LA C+

45. Memphis, TN C+

46. (tie) San Antonio, TX C+

Tampa, FL C+

48. (tie) Chandler, AZ C+

Glendale, AZ C+

Scottsdale, AZ C+

Stockton, CA C+

52. (tie) Mesa, AZ C+

Plano, TX C+

54. Virginia Beach, VA C+

55. Albuquerque, NM C

56. Henderson, NV C

57. Orlando, FL C

58. Fort Worth, TX C

59. Modesto, CA C

60. Austin, TX C

61. Minneapolis, MN C

62. New Orleans, LA C

63. Arlington, TX C

64. (tie) Charlotte, NC C

Hialeah, FL C

66. St. Paul, MN C

67. Chula Vista, CA C-

68. Tacoma, WA C-

69. Portland, OR C-

70. Anaheim, CA C-

71. Yonkers, NY C-

72. Fremont, CA C-

73. Jersey City, NJ C-

74. Honolulu, HI D+

75. Dallas, TX D+

76. Glendale, CA D+

77. (tie) Atlanta, GA D+

Seattle, WA D+

79. (tie) Houston, TX D+

San Diego, CA D+

81. Boston, MA D+

82. Denver, CO D+

83. Miami, FL D+

84. Sacramento, CA D

85. Las Vegas, NV D

86. Phoenix, AZ D

87. Aurora, CO D

88. Philadelphia, PA D

89. (tie) Newark, NJ D

San Jose, CA D

91. Santa Ana, CA D

92. Detroit, MI D-

93. New York, NY D-

94. Riverside, CA D-

95. Oakland, CA D-

96. San Francisco, CA D-

97. Long Beach, CA F

98. Baltimore, MD F

99. Los Angeles, CA F

100. Chicago, IL F

101. Washington, DC F

 

[BuffCity]

places like Cleveland, Rochester, Buffalo and Pittsburgh have such nice systems because they had been built to deal with the volume of these cities in their prime, most of which are at about half their prime pops.

 

[CU_rak]

I hope Baltimore can get its act together in terms of expanding public transit and encouraging more people to stay in the city. If the traffic problems in the Baltimore/Washington area don't get adressed now, it will be so out of control as to limit economic development and population growth. Simply expanding highways won't do it either. I really think the maglev would help on 95 and the B-W parkway, but it's damn expensive and will take a while to build. So far Ehrlich has focused on the Inter-county Connector highway and neglected all else. Oh well, maybe the gas prices will eventually get people to demand more public transit.

 

[Furiine]

Baltimore, I think, is heavily influenced by DC transporation wise. More and more people from the DC area are using BMore as the place to live and that means more traffic that is being reinforced along the I-95 corridor. I don't think BMore really has a real congestion problem as much as it does have God awful roads. 295 (aka the Baltimore-Washington Parkway) is just an avenue that is widely used to get into downtown. It turns into Russel Street, the most disgraceful fanfare entrance into the city. It's good that BMore isn't sprawling that bad (yet) so the weight put on the roads shouldn't increase while work can be done to upgrade the system. With gas prices as bad as they are, I agree that sprawl is just going to fizzle and be a brutal stain no one will want to remember. In those terms, BMore will join a few others who don't have real bad sprawl in having the last laugh.

 

[CiceroClark]

These lists are so dumb because they only include the top 100 CITIES, not metros, therefore Syracuse and Albany are left out and cities like Shreveport and Laredo are in.

 

[Malo]

Couldn't agree with you more, Cicero...

 

[xzmattzx]

another thing about this list is that it is pretty predictable. of course traffic is going to be better in lincoln, nebraska, or laredo, texas. if you want to go to another big city, you pretty much have to fly to them. here in the northeast, if you are working in philly and need to go to baltimore or new york city for the day, driving is one of the logical options. flying would be a complete waste of resources. so obviously traffic in the northeast will be worse, since all the cities are closer together and driving makes more sense.

 

[BuffCity]

xzmatt...Good Point!

 

[Ex-Ithacan]

Well, I can vouch for the bad commuting situation in DC. I leave for work at 4:30 am to commute 30 miles into the central city, and there's already some traffic on the roads. Rush hour is just starting when I head home at 2:30pm. If there's rain or especially snow, the commute can last for hours. Accidents also can screw up the commute for thousands driving miles away from the accident.

 

[jackooboy]

Hah, Philly got a D... they so fail... 76 is EVIL!

 

[Disneymustdie]

Ex-Ithacan take the Metro, Bro. If ur in D.C. and going somewehere else in D.C. why are u driving. The Metro is great. I wish we had it in Philly.

 

[Disneymustdie]

Another thing My job is in Horsham, I am in Philly, when I lived in D.C. I worked in Laurel, when I lived in Atlanta I worked in Alpharetta.

Obviously I make a low wage, Why is it that I have to reverse commute apartheid style to get to work, everybody agrees that they would take lesser pay if my commute was less Its crazy because 95% of the employees @ these jobs are from the city.

this has to be effin up traffic. IMO Traffic would be smoother and we would have more of our Beloved Skyscrapers if Corporations go back to the city where they belong.
I dont want to see another city-killin office-park/strip-mall/poorlyplaced-subdivision go up as long as I live.

I wonder how much it costs to clean the road of a ranover Deer in Doylestown?

 

[Ex-Ithacan]

Ex-Ithacan take the Metro, Bro. If ur in D.C. and going somewehere else in D.C. why are u driving. The Metro is great. I wish we had it in Philly.

I would, but I get to work before the Metro opens. :sleepy: