By Philip Newman
Los Angeles may be the nation’s gridlock champ, but the worst motorist nightmare is in the Bronx, according to a new survey.
And how about a section of the BQE in Queens, which comes in No. 8 in driver misery?
“If you happen to drive any of the top 10 worst corridors during rush hour, you spend more than one month per year stuck in traffic and could ride a bike faster than you could drive your car to work,” the INRIX US Scorecard reported.
The annual INRIX Traffic Scorecard is based on analysis of raw data from its own traffic database generated by the company’s Smart Driver Network of more than 4 million vehicles traveling every day, including taxis, airport shuttles, service delivery vans and long-haul trucks as well as private cars.
The report gives the No. 8 spot nationally in driver difficulty to a 10-mile stretch of I-278 westbound — Brooklyn Queens/Gowanus expressways — from NY-25A/Northern Boulevard to the NY-27/Prospect Expressway.
The top 10 worst gridlock cities and the times during which the gridlocks occur are as follows:
1. Los Angles at 5:30 p.m. Thursdays
2. New York City at 5:15 p.m. Fridays
3. Chicago at 5:15 p.m. Fridays
4. Washington, D.C., at 5:30 p.m. Thursdays
5. Dallas on Fridays at 5:15 p.m.
6. San Francisco at 5:30 p.m. Thursdays
7. Houston on Fridays at 5:15 p.m.
8. Boston on Fridays at 5:15 p.m.
9. Philadelphia on Fridays at 5:15 p.m.
10. Seattle on Thursdays at 5:15 p.m.
INRIX said the nation’s worst traffic corridor was an 11-mile stretch of I-95 from Conner Street to the Hudson Terrace exit that takes 43 minutes on average with 30 minutes of delay.
The sixth-worst was a 16-mile stretch of the Long Island Expressway/I-495 eastbound from the Maurice Avenue exit to the Mineola/Willis avenues exit that takes 45 minutes on average with 29 minutes of delay.
Of the 10 worst delay routes nationwide, five were in Los Angeles.
Oh, and the best time to commute? Between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. Fridays.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-260-4536.
