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Surprise: Los Angeles Has The Worst Traffic In The Country
Bumper-to-bummer (Photo by Eric Demarcq via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
In a new study on the most congested cities in the world, L.A. once again ranks as one of the biggest offenders. Confirming long-held suspicions and often-muttered complaints, the Los Angeles area has the worst traffic in the U.S., according to the annual traffic scorecard from data company Inrix. Based on their analysis, those of us attempting to cruise around the greater Los Angeles metro area logged wasted an average of 81 hours stuck in bumper-to-bummer traffic in 2015. Our top spot puts us ahead of both San Francisco and D.C., which trail behind us with a tied average of 75 hours spent in traffic by commuters last year. Let's hear it for being number one in the country, right? Well, at least we're not as bad as London, which clocked in at 101 wasted hours.
While our top ranking position may come as no surprise to those of us who have felt ourselves withering away behind the wheel, researchers at Inrix offer the small consolation that heavier traffic indicates a healthy economy. Super.
According to the report, some of the worst corridors around the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana region include the 101 from Topanga Canyon Blvd. to Vignes St., the 5 from the 133 N to Olympic Blvd., and the 10 from 20th St. to Alameda.
And, as the L.A. Times points out, even though L.A.'s unemployment rate was 5.9% in 2015, just above the national average, the researchers suggest that more people are hitting the road and heading back to work.
So, if we hope to live longer, less congested lives, we may want to give some serious consideration to Metro's latest wish list or maybe that $700 billion tunnel plan.
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