Austin traffic as compared to LA, Chicago? (Spring, San Marcos: quality of life, live)

[gotztogo]

I've been hearing a lot about the frustrations of I35 congestion. I intend to make a trip to Austin myself soon and will be able to judge the answer to this question for myself. Regardless, I'm wondering if anyone can share about the congestion relative to cities like LA or Chicago metro area? Is traffic congested bad only as compared to Austin 10 years ago? Is it bad compared to these larger metro areas?

[lighthouse2000]

I was there for a few days and we tested the traffic at different times, it is bad at rush hours, but outside of that, it depends where you live. Now, compare with LA or Chicago, no comparison!! I have been in both, specially many times in LA,those are THE worst!! Longer commutes means you can probably listen to the whole recorded bible on your car before you get home. And you can encounter some times a bad road rage..

From 1-10, 10 been the worst

LA 10+
Chicago 9
Austin 7

If you don't have to commute, and that is what I am planning when I moved there, then, no problem.

Now, when talking about overall quality of life, Austin for me is #1, LA would be a second, ONLY if you live outside LA, and although I love Chicago to visit, the winters are too much for me!

:-)

[TerryDactyls]

Rush hour traffic in Austin has been on several top 10 lists of worst traffic congestions and even higher than LA on some. Although it is much worse than 20 years ago, I am also comparing it to Washington, D.C. where I lived before coming here. Traffic is approaching the I-95 Southbound traffic coming out of D.C. And with the influx of people and the lack of infrastructure planning, it will only get worse.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by TerryDactyls

Traffic is approaching the I-95 Southbound traffic coming out of D.C. And with the influx of people and the lack of infrastructure planning, it will only get worse.

I have taken three hours to go from the Springfield interchange to Fredericksburg. There us nothing even close to that here.

[lighthouse2000]

Originally Posted by scm53

I have taken three hours to go from the Springfield interchange to Fredericksburg. There us nothing even close to that here.

I agree, and it does not help that DC drivers are one of the worst!!

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by TerryDactyls

Rush hour traffic in Austin has been on several top 10 lists of worst traffic congestions and even higher than LA on some. Although it is much worse than 20 years ago, I am also comparing it to Washington, D.C. where I lived before coming here. Traffic is approaching the I-95 Southbound traffic coming out of D.C. And with the influx of people and the lack of infrastructure planning, it will only get worse.

And those lists are bogus. They don't make the right kind of measurements, or account for the different city sizes.

They compare "free-flowing" trips to rush hour trips, for the average commute. But they don't look at the differences for length of the average commute.

Imagine two hypotheticals.

City A, average commute 10 minutes, at midnight (free-flowing) the same trip would take you 5 minutes. 5 minutes longer.

City B, average commute 60 minutes, at midnight the same trip would take you 45 minutes. 15 minutes longer.

Which city has the worse traffic. According to the "congestion index", it's city A.


Traffic in Austin is _no where_ near DCs. DC traffic gets congested 3-4 _Counties_ out, and rush hour starts at 3, if not before.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Novacek

And those lists are bogus. They don't make the right kind of measurements, or account for the different city sizes.

They compare "free-flowing" trips to rush hour trips, for the average commute. But they don't look at the differences for length of the average commute.

Imagine two hypotheticals.

City A, average commute 10 minutes, at midnight (free-flowing) the same trip would take you 5 minutes. 5 minutes longer.

City B, average commute 60 minutes, at midnight the same trip would take you 45 minutes. 15 minutes longer.

Which city has the worse traffic. According to the "congestion index", it's city A.


Traffic in Austin is _no where_ near DCs. DC traffic gets congested 3-4 _Counties_ out, and rush hour starts at 3, if not before.

No matter what anyone posts here, someone will argue about it.

[hoffdano]

IH35 traffic is awful. There is no other way to judge it. But the answer is to avoid it. I only drive on it a few times a year.

"Mopac" is terrible in rush hour. Both directions. So again the answer is to avoid it as part of your daily life.

[gotztogo]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

IH35 traffic is awful. There is no other way to judge it. But the answer is to avoid it. I only drive on it a few times a year.

"Mopac" is terrible in rush hour. Both directions. So again the answer is to avoid it as part of your daily life.

Again, from what I understand, this is possible if you have a primarily east/west commute. Anything that requires a north/south pass through -- are there viable options to i-35 & mopac?

[gotztogo]

And this is a bit off-topic, but the drive from San Marcos to the center of Austin is 35 mins (I'm guessing without traffic.) Is this also part of the heavy-congested zone, or only once you get into the loop area?