DC beats out Los Angeles for worst traffic in the country, study says

A new report says Washington, D.C., has the worst traffic in the country — outranking Los Angeles’ notoriously bad congestion.

Researchers at ConsumerAffairs analyzed average commute times, daily hours of congestion and the rate of fatal car crashes in the nation’s 50 most populous metropolitan areas.

The average commute to work in D.C. is 33.4 minutes — the longest in the U.S., researchers at ConsumerAffairs found.

They analyzed commute times, hours of congestion and the rate of fatal crashes in the 50 most populated areas of the country to rank which cities have the worst traffic.

Here are the top five worst cities for traffic, according to ConsumerAffairs:

1. Washington, D.C.
2. Los Angeles, California
3. Miami, Florida
4. San Francisco, California
5. Atlanta, Georgia

The blade of a wind turbine was blocking lanes early Monday on Interstate 70 near Hagerstown, Maryland, bringing traffic to a halt.

“On an average weekday in the capital, traffic congestion lasts more than 6.5 hours. That’s the equivalent of spending 71 days in traffic each year, the second-worst total among the cities we studied,” the report said.

Most drivers News4 spoke with about the study agreed that D.C. has a traffic problem, saying it’s “pretty bad,” “very bad,” and “horrible.”

“I could possibly believe it ’cause it’s crazy,” one woman said. “It’s unneccessary, like, for two miles it’s like 15 to 20 minutes.”

“I would say the traffic in Washington, D.C., is monstrous,” another man told News4.

But other D.C. commuters have found some solutions.

“I will say, I don’t think it’s as bad as people make it out to be. But what I have noticed is Tuesdays and Wednesdays are so bad that I’ve asked to work remote those days and then go into the office on Fridays,” a driver told News4.

“I wake up earlier,” a woman said. “Ten minutes makes a big difference.”

“For the most part, it’s just easier just to sit on the train and relax,” one man said.

Express toll lanes on the Capital Beltway would extend across the Wilson Bridge into Maryland under a new plan. Transportation Reporter Adam Tuss has the details.

Sitting in traffic isn’t enjoyable for anyone, but ConsumerAffairs found some positives in its research. It said the D.C. region ranks in the bottom 10 for fatal car crash rates, with just under six fatal crashes per 100,000 residents.

The study found these cities have the least traffic congestion:

1. Rochester, New York
2. Salt Lake City, Utah
3. Cleveland, Ohio
4. Hartford, Connecticut
5. St. Louis, Missouri
6. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
7. Columbus, Ohio
8. Fresno, California
9. Kansas City, Missouri
10. Buffalo, New York