LA Is Number One American City...in Traffic Congestion

Nick Gillespie | September 19, 2007

The Los Angeles metropolitan area led the nation in traffic jams in 2005, with rush-hour drivers spending an extra 72 hours a year on average stuck in traffic, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The metropolitan areas of San Francisco-0akland, Washington, D.C.-Virginia-Maryland, and Atlanta were tied for the second most gridlocked areas, according to the study by the Texas Transportation Institute.

More here.

There are solutions to such problems, but they all require rethinking the current (public) ways that roads are planned, built, and maintained (or not maintained).

As readers of reason know, "Traffic Jams Are Made In City Hall," and they can be solved, or at least greatly reduced through a series of five improvements ranging from creative construction, smarter management, market pricing for roads, market pricing for parking, and privatization. Read all about it--while you're stuck in traffic wasting as much as an extra 72 hours a year--hey, watch out for that stopped car!--here.