That dubious distinction was awarded by the Texas Transportation Institute in a new study issued today that once again put Los Angeles in the No. 1 position. The Texas ratings have been done every other year since 1987 as a valid way to quantify traffic jams. Just counting the number of cars wouldn't work, since Los Angeles obviously has more cars than Seattle. Through most of the 1990s, Seattle was rated sixth-worst, jumping to third worst in 1999 and inching up a spot in today's 2001 report.
Traffic congestion is bad.
It's getting worse, and we're No. 2. The rankings are done in three categories, with Seattle ending up in the No. 2 spot in two of three categories and in the No. 3 spot in the third, behind Los Angeles and San Francisco. In what's called a travel-time index, Los Angeles got a rating of 2.06, while Seattle got a rating of 1.81. That means that if it would take an hour to drive someplace in free-flowing traffic in Los Angeles, it would take a little more than two hours at rush hour. Likewise in Seattle, if it would take an hour to drive someplace in free-flowing traffic, it would take just under two hours at rush hour.