Anyone who has ever lived and worked in Los Angeles understands all too well the struggle commuting to work via car can be. Now, a Dutch company has released a new traffic index that places the United States' second largest city as the worst in terms of traffic time.
TomTom, a company known for making GPS devices, used data from more than 50 North American cities to determine the worst commute for drivers and LA topped the list, but the list did not include Mexico, and many believe Mexico City to be at or near the top despite its growing public transport system.
The company reported LA has 33 percent congestion, meaning it takes at average 33 percent longer for drivers in LA to get somewhere as compared to if there was no congestion on the roads and highways.
This does not take into account peak rush hour times, when congestion is even worse. Drivers in LA can expect to spend an additional 92 hours annually in their vehicle as a result of the congestion.
Other American cities on the list were San Francisco in sixth position, Washington DC and Houston at seven and eighth, respectively. In Canada, Vancouver followed LA as the second worst traffic city, while Toronto and Ottawa rounded out the top ten.
This was TomTom's fourth such index.
TomTom believe much of the reason that congestion and traffic have returned is a result of the economy improving and more and more people are heading back to work.
"That was one way to deal with congestion -- have a recession," says Rocky Moretti, director of policy and research at The Road Information Program, an organization that studies road traffic. But, he said, "as the economy comes back, so does congestion."
According to TomTom, Tuesday morning is usually the worst day for traffic congestion in the mornings, while Thursday evening takes the cake for the worst evening commute.
"Economic growth is starting to pick up," Moretti said. "That's obviously a very positive trend, but you do need the transportation system to accommodate that growth."
Some cities, however, did report an improvement on congestion, including Honolulu, Louisville, New Orleans and Pittsburgh, showing signs that cities can implement new efforts that can reduce the number of cars on the roads. But with the U.S. desperately needing an improved public transport system, congestion is likely to continue for the immediate future.
