One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Woohoo! L.A. No Longer the Worst U.S. City for Drivers!
Photo by Deissy Flores Preciado via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
"We're Number TWO! We're Number TWO!" Hey, Los Angeles is no longer the worst U.S. city for drivers, according to a just-released study. Our epic traffic jams were finally ousted by Honolulu, Hawaii, putting L.A. in the number two ranking.
The study, as pointed out by Bloomberg, is the Inrix National Traffic Scorecard.
While Honolulu's drivers sat through an average of 58 hours stuck in traffic in 2011, L.A. drivers only endured a mere average 56 for the year.
But if you are sad about L.A. losing our national rep for having totally suckass traffic, hey, check this out: We have the worst corridor for traffic in the nation (that's the I-405 NB from the I-105 to Getty Center) and three other lousy corridors ranked in the nation's top ten worst (the I-10 EB from the 1/Lincoln Blvd. to Alameda Street ranks #3; the I-5 SB from Cesar Chavez to Valley View ranks #5; and the I-405 SB from Nordhoff Street to Mulholland Drive ranks #7). Yikes: L.A. has almost half of the 10 worst corridors in the country.
Overall, the study found that congestion in the nation dropped 30 percent from 2010.
When is the worst time to drive? Well, how was your morning commute? "Tuesday at 8:00 AM was the busiest morning commute hour," notes Inrix. Working for the weekend? "Friday at 5:30 PM was the busiest evening commute hour where the average trip took 16 percent longer," they add.
Hmmm, so how does L.A. rank for audiobook and podcast listening rates? Considering how many hours we waste in the car, hopefully a bunch of us are at least using the time wisely.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
