Study: New Yorkers Lost 50 Hours In Traffic In 2012
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Think you're going nowhere fast? You're right.
New York is among the most congested cities in America and one of its highways the worst road for traffic in the country, according to a new study.
According to the sixth annual Traffic Scoreboard from the INRIX traffic information service, drivers in New York City lost 50 hours stuck in traffic in 2012.
Study: New Yorkers Lost 50 Hours In Traffic In 2012
It ranked fifth among the worst cities for traffic in America.
1. Los Angeles - 59 hours
2. Honolulu - 50 hours
3. San Francisco - 49 hours
4. Austin, TX - 38 hours
5. New York - 50 hours
6. Bridgeport, CT- 39 hours
7. San Jose, CA - 31 hours
8. Seattle - 35 hours
9. Washington DC - 41 hours
10. Boston - 31 hours
Overall traffic congestion was down 22 percent in 2012, but found to be back on the rise this year.
So far this year, 61 of America's Top 100 Most Populated cities have experienced increased traffic congestion. This is a dramatic shift from 2012, where only six cities experienced increases and 94 saw decreases.
Four New York roads ranked among top ten worst roads for traffic last year.
1. The Cross Bronx Expressway (New York: I-95 SB) - Drivers on New York's worst highway waste over six days each year in traffic.
2. The San Diego Freeway (L.A.: I-405 SB) - Consistently jammed in both directions, the 405 is LA's worst freeway; the 8.1-mile stretch leading to Mullholland Dr. takes drivers over 50 minutes on Tuesday mornings – the worst day and time of the week.
3. The Van Wyck Expressway (New York: I-678 SB) - On Thursdays between 4-5 p.m., drivers crawl at 10 mph, and it takes nearly 40 minutes to travel 6 miles.
4. The Santa Monica Freeway (L.A.: I-10 EB) - It can take drivers up to over an hour (63 min) to navigate the 15-mile stretch from Lincoln Blvd. to Alameda.
5. The Riverside Freeway (L.A.: CA-91 EB) - Drivers waste approximately six days per year in gridlock on this road.
6. The Long Island Expressway (New York: I-495 EB) – New Yorkers waste more than a half hour per day on the evening commute in traffic on the L.I.E.
7. Brooklyn Queens Expressway (New York: I-278 WB) - It takes approximately an hour to go 10 miles on this highway during the Tuesday evening commute.
8. San Diego Freeway (L.A.: I-405 NB) - A 13-mile stretch up to Getty Center Drive takes 40 minutes at a crawl of 20 mph.
9. The Dan Ryan/Kennedy Expressway (Chicago: I-90/I-94 WB) – Chicago commuters waste approximately one work week (5 days) every year in traffic on this popular road to O'Hare Airport.
10. The Santa Ana/Golden St. Freeway (L.A. I-5 SB) - An 18-minute trip on this 17-mile stretch takes almost 50 minutes on weekday afternoons
What are we to do about this?
Sean McNally of the American Trucking Association told WCBS 880 reporter Paul Murnane that new tolls and privatization schemes are not the best bottleneck remedies, when compared to fuel taxes.
"It has not been then easiest of rocks to push up the hill, no. But when you look at the alternatives, the alternatives are all less appealing once you peel back the onion a little bit," McNally told Murnane. "Tolling often creates a choke point all its own."
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