101 Freeway stretch is most congested in the nation

It’s no secret that we love our cars and trucks in L.A. It’s a good thing, too, because we spend a boatload of time in those vehicles, especially getting to and from work.

That’s the conclusion from the transportation analysis firm Inrix, which said the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area had the nation’s worst congestion, according to its 2015 Traffic Scorecard released on Tuesday.

We spent a total of 81 hours last year inching along during the moing and evening commute, six hours longer than drivers in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.

And the San Feando Valley has a dubious distinction in this year’s scorecard.

“The 101 east from Topanga (Canyon Boulevard) to Vignes St. is the most congested corridor in the nation right now, an average drive per day of 33 minutes,” said Chris Handley, the company’s vice president of products and analytics.

Drive time varies from hour-to-hour so timing the commute can save time.

For example, hitting the 101 on Wednesdays at 8 a.m., the most congested period, drivers move an average of 17 mph and spend 58 minutes longer in their cars than they would if traffic were free-flowing, the company said.

The company used a new data set and methodology for the 2015 scorecard, so these results caot be compared to past ones. The study has been conducted for eight years, and the Los Angeles metro area is always at or near the top, Handley said.

Traffic congestion increases when the economy improves.

“We have lower gas prices — and as gas prices drop, more people drive. The economy is improving and more new jobs are created and more people are working,” he said. “There is a direct correlation between GDP, gas prices and traffic volumes.”

The finding in the 2015 Traffic Scorecard are drawn from traffic speed data collected by Inrix on more than 1.3 million miles of urban streets and highways in the U.S., along with highway performance data from the Federal Highway Administration.

There is some solace for L.A. residents who wile away the hours while traffic creeps along.

They are better off that Londoners. That city has the world’s most congested traffic, and drivers spend 101 hours in their vehicles during the commute.

Here are the most congested U.S. cities when it comes to time spent commuting:

Advertisement

• Los Angeles – 81 hours

• Washington D.C. – 75 hours

San Francisco – 75 hours

• Houston – 74 hours

• New York City – 73 hours

• Seattle – 66 hours

• Boston – 64 hours

• Chicago – 60 hours

• Atlanta – 59 hours

• Honolulu – 49 hours

Source: Inrix