Seattle traffic 4th worst in US (2013, home, live)

[CarlB328]

Congratulations Seattle, you still have really, really bad traffic. I wish things would improve, but with Seattle's seeming whole-hearted commitment to growth, things will only get worse from here.


Traffic congestion: Seattle stays No. 4 in nation | The Today File | Seattle Times

[Botev1912]

I don't know what Honolulu is doing on the list. It has traffic but nothing like LA or Seattle.

[Hemlock140]

No surprise, I have driven in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu and they are worse. Have also driven in most of the others in the top 10 and they are not as bad as here. Honolulu is not as bad as us on weekends or non-commute times, but in the morning and afternoon the freeways are totally jammed up, worse than 405 at the S-Curves. It will get a lot worse here next year, after the big cuts to Metro bus service being announced today.

[GraceKrispy]

Honolulu is definitely bad, particularly during rush hour. I'm not at all surprised to see it on the list, either.

[mrman78]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

I don't know what Honolulu is doing on the list. It has traffic but nothing like LA or Seattle.

Honolulu traffic is atrocious. I lived there and it's rush hour ALL the time. Just awful. I found it even worse than Houston. Seattle is a cake walk compared to both and to all places I have lived. People just like to complain that traffic is awful here, but comparatively, it really isn't that bad.

All these traffic lists vary so much anyway. Houston not being on that list is just crazy...

[Bharjala]

Chalk it up to the fact that I often didn't have anywhere I needed to be, and I'm a bit of a hippy at heart, I loved Honolulu traffic.

I saw the frequent 3hrs of stopped-dead traffic in the afternoon as peaceful. Bright sun, warm breeze, and that crappy radio station that plays island music. I remember people walking from the highway to the store, sitting on their carhood or in their truck beds, and eating, having a cold drink, and sleeping.

I liked it. It forced me to relax, chill out, and just enjoy the view of the ocean from the H1.

But Seattle traffic... there is not enough Mens Room (99.9) or views of the sound (in the DARK!) that can make Seattle traffic less insane.

[CarawayDJ]

Originally Posted by mrman78

Honolulu traffic is atrocious. I lived there and it's rush hour ALL the time. Just awful. I found it even worse than Houston. Seattle is a cake walk compared to both and to all places I have lived. People just like to complain that traffic is awful here, but comparatively, it really isn't that bad.

All these traffic lists vary so much anyway. Houston not being on that list is just crazy...

I lived in Waikiki for over a year and concur. It would take me about an hour to get home from work only about 7 miles away. H1 makes Seattle look tame at rush hour. You just don't have any way around the congested routes. I'd typically wait in stop and go traffic for 20-30 minutes just to get onto H1 from Waikiki in the morning. Yeah, it deserves to be on the list.

[JRittle123]

I've driven in cities with far worse traffic.... NYC, Philadelphia, DC..... seattle is cakewalk in comparison. Although I will say for such a small city, traffic is worse than it should be. I blame WA drivers and lack of public transportation (light rail)

[ctr88]

Originally Posted by JRittle123

I've driven in cities with far worse traffic.... NYC, Philadelphia, DC..... seattle is cakewalk in comparison. Although I will say for such a small city, traffic is worse than it should be. I blame WA drivers and lack of public transportation (light rail)

Lots of traffic studies don't seem to agree with you. I have read a number of recent studies that rank LA, SF Bay and Seattle the worst traffic and congestion in the mainland U.S. I moved up to Seattle from San Diego and I think Seattle's traffic and congestion is 10X worse than SD. It's not just the freeways, Seattle has so many jammed street routes and bottleneck areas. For example all of UW is a massive bottleneck, Montlake bridge, all the east west routes going to/from highway 5 to Ballard, Mercer area SLU, most of downtown, Northgate, pretty much 24/7 on highway 5 south through Seattle, and it goes on and on.