Video: Which City Has the Worst Traffic?
CARS. COM — Everyone knows the most miserable traffic is in Los Angeles. (Didn’t all those people at the beginning of “La La Land” look just totally miserable?)
But everything’s relative, so just because you don’t live on the Coast doesn’t mean you don’t suffer from chronic congestion or arterial blockage.
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Traffic in the U.S. is only getting worse, with the average American motorist losing 50 hours of their life a year commuting.
In Atlanta, the No. 4 most congested U.S. city behind L.A., New York and San Francisco, motorists waste 71 hours in gridlock.
Atlanta is followed by Washington, D.C., at No. 6 with 61 hours. Dallas, at No. 7, with 59 hours, and Seattle and Houston, at 10 and 11, with more than 50. Other top-ranking traffic cities include Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; Minneapolis, Phoenix and Denver.
Literally can’t even with congestion?
You might consider moving someplace like Macon, Ga.; Little Rock, Ark.; Knoxville, Tenn.; or Boise, Idaho; where motorists lose around 10 hours — or Bangor, Maine, or Greensboro, N.C., with just four.
But no matter where you live, everyone gets in a jam from time to time. Here are some things to keep in mind next time your do:
Health professionals urge you to keep your anxiety in check. Being late to work due to traffic will likely be forgotten shortly after your arrival. If you’re lucky, your boss got stuck in the same snarl as you.
Resist the urge to constantly inch your car forward or crane your neck to see what’s causing the problem ahead. Obsessing won’t make the cars in front of you move any faster.
Instead, relax, breathe, listen to music, an audiobook or a podcast to pass the time — or maybe practice your yoga mantra.
Stress can stay with you long after its trigger is gone — and that’s not healthy.
Technology is also an option. Several automakers now offer cars with semi-self-driving technologies that can assume mundane driving tasks in stop-and-go traffic, taking some pressure off you.
Or you could try to avoid the whole mess in the first place. Download a crowd-sourced traffic app, like Waze, on your smartphone and find the clearest route.
