20 Worst US Cities For Commuters in 2022

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by Labtec

Surprised Houston and Dallas aren't on the list.

I've never experienced traffic in Dallas or Houston that comes anywhere close to what you'd find in Chicago, New York or Los Angeles. . .

This is the hill I will die on. . .

. . .

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by edale

Maybe for commuting Chicago has worse traffic than LA. Probably due to the fact that Chicago is SO monocentric, and a huge portion of the region is commuting into the center city, while LA has multiple employment centers, and there isn't one dominant cluster.

LA absolutely has worse traffic overall, though. From the freeways to the city streets, traffic is basically a constant outside of very early mornings. I've been in a wall to wall traffic jam on the 101 at 11pm on a weeknight multiple times. Running errands or going to a workout class on the weekend means battling traffic and allowing 30 mins to go 3 miles. I've never experienced that type of situation in Chicago.

^Agreed. . . but I can tell you that even driving on Irving Park Road from the lakeshore to the Kennedy on a Saturday is just as bad as anything I've ever seen in L.A.

The fact that Chicago is less nodal and more centrally focused definitely has something to do with it. . . god forbid you are trying to get from one side of the Loop to another when there's multiple events going on downtown. . .

. . .

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

One of my old bosses would drive in from Long Island around 6am and leave to go home around 3pm to avoid driving in Manhattan during peak rush hour. Personally, I would rather just take the train at a normal hour, but he liked doing it that way. He would also get a hotel room in the city if he had to stay later rather than driving home.

I work in 3 WTC now. Literally on top of the Oculus connected to I dunno 4 subway lines and the PATH (and the ferry). We obviously don't commute as much as we used to as we're hybrid but I work with people who live in places like Montclair and South Orange and drive to work. Those are some of the best connected transit suburbs in the metro NY area. Montclair is an express straight to Penn Station.

Anyways. People are weird. I have no tolerance for anyone who drives to work in NYC then complains about it.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

One of my old bosses would drive in from Long Island around 6am and leave to go home around 3pm to avoid driving in Manhattan during peak rush hour. Personally, I would rather just take the train at a normal hour, but he liked doing it that way. He would also get a hotel room in the city if he had to stay later rather than driving home.

I've been wondering about traffic between NYC and the Connecticut coastal cities, like Westport out to Bridgeport. Or how about between Greenwich and Bridgeport? I have an online friend who makes the Greenwich-Bridgeport commute every weekday, but we've never talked about the traffic. I believe there's a train as an option.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by dktshb

The only time I really drive in San Francisco is to either leave the City are come back into it and it is absolutely terrible. Whether it is the 80 to or from Sacramento or the 101 south or the 152 or 580 east it's a mess. Not sure about the 101 north since I never go in that direction.

Yes. Pre Covid traffic in SF was atrocious. Can’t really complain since there is the option to take BART but finding yourself in downtown during rush hour is one of the most unforgiving driving experiences when attempting to get on the Bay Bridge. I’ve never been in traffic on the Golden Gate. At least nothing memorable.

[MolsonExport]

Antioch, Syria, I have definitely heard of. Antioch, USA....nope.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Antioch, Syria, I have definitely heard of. Antioch, USA....nope.

according to wikipedia, the US has 25 places named "Antioch".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antioch_(disambiguation)

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Antioch, Syria, I have definitely heard of. Antioch, USA....nope.

I think Antioch is a hub station in the SF BART system?

[bnk]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I think Antioch is a hub station in the SF BART system?

So is Antioch Illinois for Metra Rail.

[sopas ej]

Didn't want to start a new thread, so I thought I'd post this here. California-centric, I know.

"Counties with the most super commuters in California"

A super commuter is someone who commutes 90 minutes or more one way to work and back home.

Anyway, the article lists all of California's counties (58 of them), in order of least super commuters to most.

Least (#58) Mono County
– Workers with 90+ minute commute: 0.7%
— 60+ minute commute: 3.0%
– Average commute time: 15.6 minutes
— 14.2 minutes shorter than state average
– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 10.4%
– Worked outside county of residence: 9.2%
– Means of transportation: drove alone (55.0%), carpooled (13.3%), walked to work (5.5%), public transportation (15.9%), worked from home (7.7%)

Most (#1) San Joaquin County
– Workers with 90+ minute commute: 11.0%
— 60+ minute commute: 21.9%
– Average commute time: 35.2 minutes
— 5.4 minutes longer than state average
– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 23.6%
– Worked outside county of residence: 28.7%
– Means of transportation: drove alone (78.6%), carpooled (12.2%), walked to work (1.3%), public transportation (1.6%), worked from home (5.2%)

How my county fared...
#21 Los Angeles County
– Workers with 90+ minute commute: 4.0%
— 60+ minute commute: 14.6%
– Average commute time: 31.7 minutes
— 1.9 minutes longer than state average
– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 14.7%
– Worked outside county of residence: 7.0%
– Means of transportation: drove alone (72.1%), carpooled (9.5%), walked to work (2.6%), public transportation (5.4%), worked from home (8.0%)

A few others...
#25 San Francisco County
– Workers with 90+ minute commute: 3.8%
— 60+ minute commute: 14.4%
– Average commute time: 33.3 minutes
— 3.5 minutes longer than state average
– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 5.7%
– Worked outside county of residence: 20.8%
– Means of transportation: drove alone (30.5%), carpooled (6.8%), walked to work (11.7%), public transportation (31.6%), worked from home (11.8%)

#28 Sacramento County
– Workers with 90+ minute commute: 3.6%
— 60+ minute commute: 8.2%
– Average commute time: 28.1 minutes
— 1.7 minutes shorter than state average
– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 14.5%
– Worked outside county of residence: 19.1%
– Means of transportation: drove alone (74.9%), carpooled (9.9%), walked to work (1.8%), public transportation (2.2%), worked from home (9.0%)

#50 San Diego County
– Workers with 90+ minute commute: 2.2%
— 60+ minute commute: 7.3%
– Average commute time: 26.5 minutes
— 3.3 minutes shorter than state average
– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 15.5%
– Worked outside county of residence: 1.9%
– Means of transportation: drove alone (73.9%), carpooled (8.7%), walked to work (2.9%), public transportation (2.6%), worked from home (9.6%)

#43 Orange County
– Workers with 90+ minute commute: 3.0%
— 60+ minute commute: 9.5%
– Average commute time: 28 minutes
— 1.8 minutes shorter than state average
– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 13.6%
– Worked outside county of residence: 14.5%
– Means of transportation: drove alone (76.1%), carpooled (9.5%), walked to work (1.8%), public transportation (1.8%), worked from home (9.0%)

#39 Santa Clara County
– Workers with 90+ minute commute: 3.1%
— 60+ minute commute: 10.5%
– Average commute time: 29.2 minutes
— 0.6 minutes shorter than state average
– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 9.2%
– Worked outside county of residence: 12.5%
– Means of transportation: drove alone (71.0%), carpooled (10.2%), walked to work (2.1%), public transportation (4.0%), worked from home (9.7%)

To see the complete list... From KTLA.
Link: https://ktla.com/news/california/cou...FBE6GKAfyrUQ-I

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by bnk

So is Antioch Illinois for Metra Rail.

Yep...I have a friend in Fox Lake, IL who commutes to Chicago. I think he catches the train at Lake Villa, if I'm recalling that correctly.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Didn't want to start a new thread, so I thought I'd post this here. California-centric, I know.

Most (#1) San Joaquin County
– Workers with 90+ minute commute: 11.0%
— 60+ minute commute: 21.9%
– Average commute time: 35.2 minutes
— 5.4 minutes longer than state average
– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 23.6%
– Worked outside county of residence: 28.7%
– Means of transportation: drove alone (78.6%), carpooled (12.2%), walked to work (1.3%), public transportation (1.6%), worked from home (5.2%)

I have a lot of co-workers who commute from San Joaquin county. Terrible commute. At least most WFH most days.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

Yep...I have a friend in Fox Lake, IL who commutes to Chicago. I think he catches the train at Lake Villa, if I'm recalling that correctly.

It's a little odd that your friend would drive 5 miles over to the metra station in lake villa on the NCS line, when fox lake itself has its very own metra station on the MD-N line, with more frequent service to boot.

[1 California]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Most (#1) San Joaquin County
– Workers with 90+ minute commute: 11.0%
— 60+ minute commute: 21.9%
– Average commute time: 35.2 minutes
— 5.4 minutes longer than state average
– Left for work from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.: 23.6%
– Worked outside county of residence: 28.7%
– Means of transportation: drove alone (78.6%), carpooled (12.2%), walked to work (1.3%), public transportation (1.6%), worked from home (5.2%)

Zero surprise there

[Xing]

Originally Posted by edale

Maybe for commuting Chicago has worse traffic than LA. Probably due to the fact that Chicago is SO monocentric, and a huge portion of the region is commuting into the center city, while LA has multiple employment centers, and there isn't one dominant cluster.

LA absolutely has worse traffic overall, though. From the freeways to the city streets, traffic is basically a constant outside of very early mornings. I've been in a wall to wall traffic jam on the 101 at 11pm on a weeknight multiple times. Running errands or going to a workout class on the weekend means battling traffic and allowing 30 mins to go 3 miles. I've never experienced that type of situation in Chicago.

LA’s traffic IS worse than Chicago’s. Not sure what happened here.

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by Xing

LA’s traffic IS worse than Chicago’s. Not sure what happened here.

Could it be Chicago is worse than LA at rush hour commuting times while LA has massive traffic at all times?

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by UrbanImpact

Could it be Chicago is worse than LA at rush hour commuting times while LA has massive traffic at all times?

Never been to Chicago, but what I can say about LA’s rush hour traffic is that years ago it used to be rush hour traffic was bad mostly on the freeways (except for the Westside - SaMo, Sunset, Wilshire etc have always been bad). Now it’s also outbound/inbound surface street arterials in all directions.

I think a lot of that can also be attributed to the advent of GPS, though. No more such things as “secret shortcuts”. Perfect example is the SGV river bridge reconstruction on Interstate 210 through Irwindale occurring right now. What was a six-lane freeway has been reduced to a three-lane parkway for a couple weeks and all traffic that would normally be mostly on the 10 and 60 (assuming no accidents) is now also on Las Tunas/Arrow, Lower Azusa/LA St, and Ramona and Valley blvds.

It really is a mess.

[SLO]

Originally Posted by Xing

LA’s traffic IS worse than Chicago’s. Not sure what happened here.

I'm certainly not a Chicagoan, but it seemed the highways were much smaller in terms of number of lanes. Even here in the DFW area there are tons of new freeways, but LA's are generally wider, in lane count. LA is just jam packed all the time.
My Chicago experience was Schaumburg to DT Chicago and just staying DT on business...

[Steely Dan]

^ the Kennedy from ORD into the loop is fairly undersized compared to LA expressways.

The first 8 miles from the airport to the junction with the edens is just a 3/3 for most of the way.

Then after the junction it runs the next 8 miles into the loop mostly as a 4/2/4, with the 2 middle lanes being reversible "express" lanes.

As such, it's frequently a 16 mile long parking lot, in both directions, even at non-rush hour times.

The reversible express lane thing probably seemed like a pretty good space-saving idea back in the 60s when rush hour commutes were more mono-directional (into the loop in the morning, outta the loop in the afternoon), but now with so much reverse commuting, it's not such a useful arrangement anymore. I wonder if that stretch wouldn't be better served as just a straight-up 5/5.

[chris08876]

The problem is that people don't know how to navigate scissor merges. Truckers that insist on being the left. Men that drive SUV's with NY Plates and woman with baby on board stickers in a minivan that grip the left and put their brakes on when the nearest car is 2 miles away that are the issue. If you fix that, you fix the nations traffic issue.

If we start making these folks wear purple hats for easy identification and give incentives to our nations truckers to ram them off the roads, we can make America fast again.

Point is... a lot of road issues are because of poor driving. No need to put your brakes on when driving uphill when no one is in front of you. This is the sign of someone that needs rehabilitation.