We're still No. 1

L.A. retains its title as the region with the worst traffic delays, but the IE is catching up:

Los Angeles and Orange counties have retained their infamous reputation as the worst region in the country for traffic delays, but the Inland Empire and the Ventura area are rapidly catching up, according to a national study released today. Researchers at the Texas Transportation Institute found that motorists in Los Angeles and Orange counties wasted an average of 72 hours in rush-hour traffic in 2005. That's one day shy of two full work weeks a year and 20 hours more than in 1985. In Riverside and San Bernardino counties, drivers wasted an average of 49 hours stuck in peak-period congestion during 2005. But the increase in delays since 1985 -- a stunning 40 extra hours -- is twice what Los Angeles motorists experienced.

Comments

[JustinNative]

This whole traffic-transit issue is so ridiculous. Why don't people just live close to their jobs?

This is insane. Commuting is unnatural. We should all be closer to the communities where we work anyway - this is the real solution to long commutes!

[JustinNative]

This whole traffic-transit issue is so ridiculous. Why don't people just live close to their jobs?

This is insane. Commuting is unnatural. We should all be closer to the communities where we work anyway - this is the real solution to long commutes!

[Richard H]

Dan wrote: "New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago did not even make the top ten. Why? It is very simple. They all have great public transit systems."

San Francisco, Washington DC and Atlanta with big heavy rail systems (bigger than Philadelphia and as big as Chicago) are just below Los Angeles on the congestion list but well above cities like Phoenix, Houston, Miami, and Detroit which have little or no rail. Even above Arlington, TX which has NO Public transit at all, rail or bus. Why?

Seattle scores better than any of the cities with "great public transit systems" (except Philadephia?) and all it has is a monorail.

That's it! Monorails! Build monorails!

[Daniel OC]

eradicate illegal aliens? are we a pestilence? quit assigning blame elsewhere and lay it squarely at your own doorstep: we all live in sprawl. we all drive -- it is the southern californian culture. we congested ourselves into this hole. live with it or pay up.

[Jean-Luc Turbo]

Living just east of downtown in Boyle Heights I can tell you that these things called freeways have obliterated this old L.A. suburb. I'm actually within the "island" where the 101 splits into the 10, 60 and the 5 on the west side and the 5 and 10 share one another on the east. If we looked at how freeways affect the quality of life throughout SoCal, we'd probably see them for the moats that they are rather than an efficient means of transportation.

So what are the solutions that we should be participating in and demanding?

FREEWAYS? To site a previous poster, as the county and region continues growing like a voracious amoeba, do you think having added more freeways during Governor Brown's reign would be making any difference now? I won't even waste my time with his editorializing...

MASS TRANSIT? The MTA's rapid bus system works amazingly well when needing to travel long distances as does the Red Line, Purple Line, Orange Line, Blue Line and Green Line. If only the Gold Line didn't snail along like a trolley rather than the speed light rail is supposed to travel (although I have to add that the current Gold Line is a surprisingly beautiful ride through a unique part of L.A.). I would encourage people to force themselves to use the system, if even for a weekend trip. Once I got over having to be somewhere as soon as possible, I found that I had a much more peaceful day when I left the driving to people who get paid to drive this city around.

We really have to look at who's owning who with relation to our cars. Whenever I go downtown and Hollywood, I leave my car at home and am always surprised how I have a greater sense of peace and freedom... Could this be because I'm not trapped in traffic or helpless in finding decent parking? Prolly'!

[JAIME]

E.L.A. - SANTA MONICA 45 MINUTES. I KNOW A LOT OF SHORT CUTS -- I WILL NEVER TELL.......

[norman scott]

Hooorrraayyyy! We're number one! We're number one! Take that Bay Area, in your face... losers! Ahahahhaha!!! Ahhhhh victory.... it feels sooooo gooood.... Houston.... Bite me!... Ya'll are just losers. We are number one!!! wooooohooooo!!!!!!

[mike]

"Who was the idiot counsel man the said that we did not need a carpool lane on the 10 freeway from downtown to the Santa Monica?"

They tried to construct a carpool lane but it involved taking away a lane from regular traffic and drivers revolted...so they didn't do it. This is what set the precident of Caltrans never taking away lanes when building carpool lanes. Thus the waste of money now being spent on the 405.

The Westside has consistently fought improvments like the subway and carpool lanes. Any bad traffic they have now, I would say in many ways they deserve. They have gotten largely exactly what they have asked for and that was no carpool lanes and no subway. A pat on your back would be appropriate right now.

That being said we should learn from our mistakes and push forward to build what is painstakingly obiviously needed. Carpool lanes without adding a lane and a subway down dense wilshire blvd. Enough of this building rail lines where there is no density so that you can build density....just build where there already is density!!!

[Robert Laughing]

Well... what does one expect when all the half-wits live 30-50-100 miles from where they work? Clearly, JPL/RAND doesn't employ too many Angelinos...you numbnuts deserve the gridlock and frustration.

[Drew]

Eradicating millions of illegal aliens would make a huge difference. Remember that day when many of the illegals stayed home in protest? The freeways were smooth sailing that day.

[Dan]

New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago did not even make the top ten. Why? It is very simple. They all have great public transit systems. California
needs to stop widening highways and invest in public transportation. The numbers don't lie.

[John Crandell]

subway to the sea. subway to the sea. subway to the sea.
build it and I'll come back, L.A.

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[Andy]

What I want to know is, why can't Caltrans or the CHP come up with something as simple as a bright yellow tarp to use during accidents so that motorists going in the opposite direction don't slow down to "rubberneck?" The Accident Investigation Sites scattered around the area are spread too far apart to be of any use.

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[Sandra]

I commute 65 miles each way five days a week. The worst drivers? Here's my list: 1) women who are putting makeup on while driving; 2) anyone reading while driving; 3) anyone on a cell phone; 4) people cutting others off and then slowing down. The list goes on. Right now my personal favorite is the woman who rearended me last week on the 10 Fwy. All traffic was stopped and she kept coming - striking my car. When I asked her if she saw all lanes of traffic had stopped (including our lane), her exact words were "I was looking at my baby and not at the road" -- her very young child was in a carrier (not a child safety seat) in the back of her car and she was not paying attention. Of course, she then refused to exchange information so we had to wait for CHP to arrive.

Road rage? Why wouldn't you have it? Six plus hours of travel a day to work 8 hours. Only in L.A.

[Steve]

Keeping a distance from the car in front is preferable and you can do it at high speeds. Cynthia's reference to "keeping up" implies she likes to tailgate. That pisses the driver in front off and leads to tailgaters' braking all the time and causing a chain reaction of braking cars and is highly inefficient. It's drivers like her that should be off the highway.

[Jason Saunders]

We need leaders with VISION. People who are willing to fight for and sell an idea. Current politicians just want to take the safe route and the safe route is the status quo. The safe route is traffic getting worse and L.A. becoming less and less a great place to live every year. Leaders be DARING, BE BOLD

[anthony]

Californians become complacent to the traffic problems and that is why politicians do not have to bring up the issues during elections or to keep the promises to solve traffic. We all become brain-dead as far as concerning the traffic issues. We keep hearing "do not build anymore freeways, since it will attract more cars!" What kind of stupid comments is that? As long as you collect the gasoline tax money, you have to expand the traffic ways for people to commute. People are already attracted to California major cities already, and the more people are here, the more tax money the state gets. Cal Trans, the biggest "welfare agency" in the state of california, do not fulfill its obgligations to taxpayers. It is an open secrets that Cal Trans Engineers do nothing but fooling around in their offices year round. Get off your chair and do something about the traffic. We are paying for your excessive salary + benefits that the 90% of Californians will never get!

[Emily]

If there were sufficient controls on how loads were strapped down and covered, and on overloaded vehicles (such as the re-built 'cardboard carrier' trucks) the problem would be halved. In the Bay Area where I live, more than half of every day's traffic reports are warnings about things that people have dropped in the roadway causing backups (equipment, lumber, ladders and tools, cardboard, etc.) and traffic delays for hours. Other states have laws restricting how loads are carried and how they are strapped and covered, whether vehicles can be modified, and how much they can be overloaded. Why are there no fines for those things here? We need to restrict the casual loss of items from moving vehicles, before a serious tragedy happens like the one in Illinois where a piece of metal from a truck killed 7 of the children in a family van that caught on fire.

[one less car...]

I ride a bicycle and the bus most of the time, but I agree with earlier comment that many commuters have no alternative options.

LATimes reporters: what does the mayor have to say about these damning reports? which local politicians are putting their weight behind innovative and long-term solutions?? The bottleneck blog is one of several outlets for us nobodies to vent our frustration, but this is useful only to a point--we need a more public scorecard of local officials' actions on this (or *inactions*).

[If you can't do the swim, better sing the hymn]

The mindset never changes.

Life in LA would be great if only:

The whole surface was paved so you could drive everywhere.
No one commuted long distances.
Everyone else left town so you could have the road to yourself.
Everyone drove the way you wanted them to.

Or,

We could have a network of public transportation that worked that EVERYONE could use.
Then you could live where you want, go the restaurants you want, save all that money in car insurance and parking fees and gas, read, sleep, or watch dvd's on the train/bus.

But no, you would twist yourself into a pretzel to avoid the reality that we need to get on with public transportation.

[Phil]

Congestion is good. It means people are doing well. Drive the unemployment rate up 4 or 5 points and the roads will flow freely. Is that what you want? Didn't think so. Want to spend less time in traffic? Eliminate carpool lanes, enforce lane discipline, expand freeways where possible, upgrade interchanges everywhere else, install more left-turn signals on surface streets and pave potholes. If you can use transportation alternatives, have at it but don't be guilted out of your car. Meanwhile, load up on music and stay calm when traffic congeals.

[Ria]

Charles said it all about LA:
"(the following must be recited in a robotic monotone voice of delusion):
You can go to the beach and skiing in the same day
It's worth it.
You can eat at many types of restaurants.
It's worth it.
Diversity is more important than quality of life.
It's worth it.
LA is a great place to raise kids.
It's worth it.
LA traffic problems are overrated.
It's worth it.
LA salaries are higher to account for living here.
It's worth it."

I got out. I'm not ruining my health any longer breathing the LA air. I rode a bicycle my last year in LA, and although exercise is good - the air quality, traffic, congestion, and cost of living just make it not worth aging into retirement while living there. Staying? Find a good oncologist.