I gotta be honest. I always thought the “Atlanta has worst traffic in US” headlines were sorta bunk. Now granted, I live intown and don’t drive all the time, but I’ve been in many other cities where I’ve inevitably felt, “Geez, Atlanta traffic is NEVER this bad!” So when I saw this recent TomTom traffic congestion ranker on Atlanta Business Chronicle that puts Atlanta 15th on a “Traffic Congestion” List in the U.S., I thought, “Yes, This feels about right.” (Worldwide, Atlanta ranks 93rd in traffic congestion.)
And while the overall U.S. ranking may be good for a momentary “Heh.” before flipping back over to Facebook, the extra congestion details provided may be worth a few extra seconds of your dayt.
Ranking 15th in the U.S. puts Atlanta traffic congestion behind well-known transportation-foward cities like Portland and Seattle, which makes you stop and wonder whether Atlanta traffic needs to get worse before car-alternative options become more palatable to the general public.
Looking at the days o’ the week, the drive in is worst on Wednesdays, while Friday mornings are by far the best. However, what Fridays give you in the morning it takes away in the afternoon. Friday afternoon offers up the worst congestion of any commute time.
And not so surprisingly, the most congested day of 2014 was January 24th (aka Snowpocalypse).
Neat, huh?
Chart courtesy of Atlanta Business Chronicle
I’ll save this to read on my phone while I’m driving.
Both Seattle (5th) and Portland (10th) rank worse than Atlanta (15th). Having (painfully) experienced drives between Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond, squeezing onto the toll bridges, I would gladly take the Top End of the Perimeter any day.
Seattle and Portland may be more “transportation forward,” but they have worse congestion than Atlanta. New York, Chicago, and Washington (all worse than Atlanta) also have far more public transportation alternatives. Having been a scaper for slug lines coming up I-95 from northern Virginia into DC I can say that’s the worst daily commute I’ve experienced.
Atlanta traffic isn’t fun, and other places would have worse traffic absent their public transportation options (I especially like the Washington Metro and New York’s subway but not so much Boston’s T or SF’s BART), but those places still have worse congestion.