L.A. Will Have the Worst Thanksgiving Traffic in the Nation by Every Measure

By Tessa Stuart Mon., Nov. 19 2012 at 11:04 AM

Flickr.com/epsos

We're number one! We're number one! That's right, L.A. is ranked first in the latest ranking of U.S. cities... in terms of worst Thanksgiving getaway traffic.

Data traffic provider INRIX predicted the top 10 busiest cities this holiday and, to the surprise of no one, Los Angeles tops the list with the average driving trip expected to increase by 33 percent compared to a typical day.

How about you tell us something we don't already know, traffic experts? What's that--you know which are the worst times to hit the road?! Go on...

First the list:

1. Los Angeles

2. San Francisco

3. New York

4. Chicago

5. Washington, D.C.

6. Baltimore

7. Dallas/Fort Worth

8. Houston

9. Atlanta

10. Hartford

The good news, Los Angeles, is that traffic has actually gotten better over the last couple of years. In fact, the good folks over at INRIX say they expect a 31 percent decrease in LA this year. They attribute the change to the economic downturn and record high gas prices.

By the numbers:

Whatever you do, do not hit the road is between 3:30 and 5pm on Wednesday when traffic is the very, very worst. Your best bet is to leave before noon or after 6pm.

Airport Route Delays

Sure, it looks like Los Angeles comes in 4th, 6th and 7th in terms of delay on airport routes, but look again and you'll see these delays are ranked in terms of speed. If they were ranked instead by total length of delay, Los Angeles would take 1st, 2nd and 3rd place!

Take that, every other city!

Tags:

INRIX, Thanksgiving, traffic congestion

We Recommend

abramsrl

Is there any system anywhere which won't become over taxed if everyone uses it all at once?

I remember when Johnny Carson said during his monologue there was going to be a toilet paper short, and the next day the shelves were denuded of TP. The next night, he had to explain to people that his was a comedian and that during his monologue he told jokes. His point was that there was no gas crisis either -- just fear making everyone buy gas all the time. On average Angelenos had their gas tanks between 40% and 50% full, but when people decided that everyone's tank to be 95% full all the time, it looked like we had a gas shortage. Afterwards we found out that we had enough gas, but it was in people cars and not the underground tanks at the gas stations.

Is it a reasonable criticism that when a huge number of people decide the use the roads at the same time, the roads become overly crowded? I learned the hard way a few years ago when I tried to go O.C. on T Day and had to turn back. I doubt it is poverty that is reducing the traffic rather than people have learned that driving in LA on Turkey Day is not wise and they make other plans.

ccctierney

No, THE ROAD TO HELL has the worst traffic.

:) Kidding!

Preferences§1234567890-=BackspaceTabqwertyuiop[]Returncapslockasdfghjkl;'\shift`zxcvbnm,./shiftEnglishDeutschEspañolFrançaisItalianoPortuguêsРусскийalt altPreferences