Boston Traffic is the worst in the country! (Worcester, Cambridge: rental, hotel)

[Cantabridgienne]

Take the T.

[btownboss4]

no it isnt maybe youre a terrible driver.

[wikiwikirunner]

San Francisco: Unless you live in the South Bay or In the city itself, you have to cross a bridge. such a large majority of people who work in SF live in East Bay. I work by SFO, live in Walnut Creek (map it out bostoners). I have about 14 miles of driving up the 101 to get to where it merges to I-80 to get across the bay bridge. It took me 1:45 yesterday to get to the bay bridge during rush hour. All of the parts about rude drivers in Boston apply here too. Any time you leave the city going anywhere but south you have to cross a bridge which leads to massive congestion.

[Beantown_mama]

Traffic here is nothing compared to other cities. I lived in Chicago and the Kennedy Expressway is jammed 24/7. Boston really just has 'rush hour' traffic for the most part.

On the other hand, Boston drivers really are more rude than other drivers! I don't know if it is bad driving or total disregard for the law, but I am always amazed at some illegal/dangerous driving maneuver I see on my commmute through Somerville every day.

[gilwood]

Originally Posted by Beantown_mama

Traffic here is nothing compared to other cities. I lived in Chicago and the Kennedy Expressway is jammed 24/7. Boston really just has 'rush hour' traffic for the most part.

On the other hand, Boston drivers really are more rude than other drivers! I don't know if it is bad driving or total disregard for the law, but I am always amazed at some illegal/dangerous driving maneuver I see on my commmute through Somerville every day.

So true. I saw some guy lock up all 4 wheels to not hit a slow moving older guy trying to cross the road. Everyone was in the left lane at a complete stop and this pickup trucke came barrelling up the empty right lane to almost crush this poor old guy.

[asha01]

Bad Traffic is in all major Metro areas....Wait until you see bad driving in Orlando, FL. for absolutely no reason...Oh yea..it might be because all roads are 35 and 45 miles.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by gilwood

Probably because it's hard to get over 50 mph.

That's funny. I hit 70 and 75 regularly on 93, 128, Pike, 95, Route 3, etc. Maybe you're just driving at the worst of rush hour.

Today I made it from Beacon Hill to Wakefield in about 15 minutes in the mid-afternoon.

[breezy1]

I agree that the roads are confusing and hard to follow (with poor signage), but off the top of my head, here are cities with way worse traffic congestion: Washington, Northern NJ/NYC metro, Atlanta, LA, and Philly can be pretty bad. And I'm sure there are more. I've been in Phoenix many times. While the area is extremely easy to figure out - just one big grid - traffic at rush hours can be horrible, and that's on 5-lane highways!

[caphillsea77]

I lived in Seattle for 5 years and I found sitting in traffic there equally as frustrating as Boston or any other city. My anxiety levels go much higher driving anywhere within a 50 miles radius of NYC or Southern California freeways. Yeah traffic here sucks, but I just don't see it that differently than most other big cities. Philadelphia has much worse highways than we do. Try the 12 mile daily back up on I-76, oh what a joy! If you're here for 2 years you have a choice to either enjoy yourself or be miserable. My company could transplant me to Fargo, I place I shudder the thought of living in, but I'd still try and make the best of it. Life is too short to be miserable, and especially over traffic in a big city.

[chuy617]

Yes, 10 minutes per mile is bad, but at least the Boston area is relatively compact. LA is much the same but commutes commonly stretch to 50 miles or more.

In this sense Boston traffic is a cake walk. Those of us who end our day in the Valley and have to drive to south Orange County (passing through the 405/10 interchange, the busiest freeway intersection in the US) are looking at 3 hours minimum every day, and would kill for a 12 mile Boston commute.