Dennis RomeroSee also: 5 Ways To Solve L.A. Traffic, Including Immigrant Driver's Ed.
Among the numerous declarations that Los Angeles has the worst traffic in America, this is arguably the most definitive.
Traffic information provider INRIX, which tracks real-time congestion, looked at its data for last year and concluded that L.A. is back on top as king of the road-turned-parking lot:
Back on top?
Yes. Last year L.A. was beat out in the traffic-jam game by Honolulu, a place where the number of cars is presumably limited by the size of an island. Still, at least you can get out and walk to the beach there.
For 2012, we were triumphant: INRIX says the average Angeleno wasted 59 hours in traffic. But that's not the best part. According to a statement sent to the Weekly:
Additionally, INRIX data from 2013 to date shows that traffic is only going to increase in the coming year – already, congestion has increased by 6% in the city. INRIX attributes this 2013 trend, in part, to the economic situation in LA, including the decrease in LA County's unemployment rate by a full percentage point and the 90,000 added jobs in the last year.
Credit: The L.A. area's worst roads in 2012 via INRIX.
Yay! So happy the mayor made so many car lanes into bike lanes. Visionary.
L.A. beat out Honolulu (number 2) and San Francisco (number 3) for this prestigious title. In fact 39 area roads and highways were on INRIX's list of 162 most-congested intersections in America.
Our worst traffic hour is 5 p.m. on Friday, INRIX says. And our worst stretch of road — and the second-worst in the nation — is the 405 through the Valley, with a 51-minute commute from 8 to 9 a.m. on wonderful Tuesday mornings.
The car crush is a sign of an improving economy. So there's a bright side to all of this. At least you're getting paid.
INRIX's Jamie Holter:
As employment comes back in LA so is traffic, returning the famous city back to its spot atop the nation's list of worst traffic cities.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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