QOTD: Where Have You Encountered the Worst Traffic?

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Matt wrote earlier about 15-minute cities by featuring plans being made in Cleveland. The purpose of these cities is basically to set up neighborhoods so that anything residents want or need is within a 15-minute walk -- thus reducing automobile traffic.


As much as I love driving, this is part of why I pay way too much to live in the city of Chicago proper as opposed to the suburbs, even though I grew up in the 'burbs. It's so I don't have to drive everywhere I go -- I can walk, bike, use public transit, or hire a cab/rideshare.

On the other hand, I do drive a fair bit. Some of this is so I can test cars -- can't do much testing when the vehicle is parked in the garage -- and sometimes I drive because I need/want to go places that are only easily accessible by driving. And sometimes, I just find it faster/easier than using public transit.

The flip side of this is that I often deal with Chicago's horrendous traffic. It was even worse when I was younger and commuted to and from the suburbs on a daily basis for school and/or work.

As bad as Chicago traffic is, I've dealt with LA's notoriously terrible traffic jams. New York's, too -- I will never forget the time I was in the Bronx and watched as someone tried to change lanes. Other drivers wouldn't let them in, and two lanes of traffic got clogged.

Boston is bad, too. Nashville has been problematic when I've been there. And I spent significant time in Baltimore from 2015-2018 -- driving in Maryland is an experience that I'd not wish on my enemies.

To be clear, this isn't about places with the worst drivers -- though as my examples show, bad driving can and does cause traffic problems -- but the places you've driven with the worst traffic.

Chicago is, sadly, always high on those lists of "cities with bad traffic problems" you see floating around in the media a few times a year. Traffic and winter are the two things I hate most about this city, and I cringe thinking about much time I've lost sitting in traffic. It's depressing.

So, what city or town or whatever has the worst traffic you've encountered?

Sound off below.

[Image: Nikola Fific/Shutterstock.com]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Mar 21, 2024

    A few tears back I was coming out of the backcountry late winter. Sun was setting. By the time I had hit the rural highway I saw something like 24 moose. There were several big bulls with their harems.

  • EAM3 EAM3 on Mar 21, 2024

    Miami. You used to be able to drive from anywhere in Broward county into Miami in under an hour. Now it seems to take an hour just to go a few miles.

  • ToolGuy "admiring one that drove past the 400k-mile mark during its career"• I bet some of those trips were unnecessary.Remember, the safest most affordable trip is the one you do not take. Also remember, if I am driving there is a good reason for it -- I do not need you clogging up the roads out of habit lol. Learn how to drive, people. This includes knowing when to stay home. 🙂
  • MaintenanceCosts These base 740s always seemed incongruous to me. Luxury-grade interior with fabulously comfortable seats and pleasing Scandinavian design, coupled with an unrefined, weak, and noisy (though durable) economy-car engine. They should have added another cylinder or two to the redblock for these cars.
  • 2ACL The listing appears to have been taken down. Here are the extended cliff notes on the car's history:- Previous owner went full broke from getting most of the 100k-mile overhaul done.- Current owner continued the good fight but is demoralized by more things breaking regardless, specifically the SMG pump. He believes he can fix it, but isn't keen to, and has his eye on something newer and less problematic.- It was modded.- Personal opinion: this generation of 6 series hasn't aged well. Hard pass for me.
  • EBFlex What an absolute joke. These price games Tesla plays is ridiculous
  • Tassos Serious car for serious drivers. Price is good especially considering the value of the USD. Watch out for blue smoke and a plan for a healthy maintenance budget. Otherwise this is a decent used car that could very well be a future classic. AS FOR ME, I’M NOT A SERIOUS PERSON SO I’LL CONTINUE FLEXING MY ANCIENT DIESEL BENZES (REBUILT TITLES) LIKE IT’S SOME KIND OF ACCOMPLISHMENT.
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