Drivers around the country are familiar with the feeling of helplessness that overtakes one's mood when stuck in traffic. Whether on the way to work, heading home or simply trying to get through a daily to-do list, sitting in traffic is the bane of many Americans' existences. But which drivers have it worst? Is Los Angeles still the undisputed traffic capital? What other cities force car owners to spend immeasurably long hours on the highway?
TomTom, a navigation company behind many consumer GPS products, crunched traffic level numbers over a nine-year period to come up with an annual traffic index of the worst cities for traffic around the entire globe. Giving each one of the 189 included cities a score out of 100, the company conducted the research in reference to time of day. Below, find the top 15 worst cities for traffic in America:
1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco
3. New York
4. Seattle
5. San José
6. Miami
7. Portland
8. Honolulu
9. Washington
10. Boston
11. San Diego
12. Atlanta
13. Baton Rouge
14. Chicago
15. Austin
When glimpsing at the world-wide data, driving in America doesn't look as painful as driving in Mexico, Thailand and China, for example. Mexico City actually tops the list as the world's worst traffic city, followed by Bangkok (Thailand), Jakarta (Indonesia), Chongqing (China), Bucharest (Romania) and Istanbul (Turkey).
Los Angeles, the first American city to appear on the world-wide list, lands in position 12—not so bad, relatively speaking. It's all about perspective, right?