Posted on 02/23/2010 10:32:59 AM PST by Stoat
Posted: 7:30 am PST February 23, 2010Updated: 8:18 am PST February 23, 2010
SEATTLE -- Seattle continues to be ranked the ninth most congested city in the United States. The ranking is according to a study released Tuesday morning by Inrix, a Kirkland-based company that provides traffic and navigation services for the nation.The KIRO 7 traffic team looked through all of the data and found the study showed that annually, drivers in the greater Seattle metro area who normally commute 30 minutes have wasted 46 hours last year stuck in traffic. The worst stretch of freeway is SR-520 westbound at Bellevue Way/Lake Washington Blvd on Thursdays from 6 to 7 p.m. At this time, traffic crawls at only 5 mph.Nationwide, the report found that traffic congestion hit bottom in March last year after 18 months of steady declines and is back on the rise as the economy shows signs of recovery. According to the report, how quickly traffic congestion returns to pre-recession levels will be dependent on jobs and fuel prices.Los Angeles, New York and Chicago rounded out the top three most congested cities. The worst bottleneck in the nation is westbound on the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95) in New York City. This section of freeway wastes 94 hours of peoples’ time per week, the study calculated.
Here is the complete list of the top 10 most congested cities:
1. Los Angeles, Calif.
2. New York, N.Y.
3. Chicago, Ill
.4. Washington, D.C.
5. Dallas, Texas
6. Houston, Texas
7. San Francisco, Calif.
8. Boston, Mass
9. Seattle, Wash.
10. Philadelphia, Pa.
In a Scion xB. I was following another State Patrolman to see what he was up to.
I hadn’t had a ticket in years and the cop almost lost control of his car when he followed me off the freeway onto eastbound Maple Valley Highway - I love to fly around that corner. Funny thing is, he wasn’t angry and massively reduced the ticket. Basically he HAD to do something so he did.
It pays to be above board, over 40 and frank.
As a forty-year freeway commuter in LA, #1 on the list, the strategy I developed has always been effective: stay with the freeway until hitting real congestion, then get off onto surface streets, checking back on the freeway occasionally.
I’m glad that works for you - around here it seems people have no imagination regarding “alternate routes” -well, I should say the locals probably do, but who the heck is a local to Houston? The place is the United Nations...you rarely meet anyone from here.
Like, for example, “from PA”?
Actually from Texas, through PA, back to Texas....or Houston, which I really don’t consider to represent Texas. ;^)
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