On the heels of being named America's Rudest city comes more bad news: Los Angeles ranks among the worst metropolitan areas in the nation when it comes to traffic congestion, according to a study released Thursday.
The Urban Mobility Report by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University found that the average motorist in the Los Angeles-Long Beach- Santa Ana region spent 63 hours sitting in traffic in 2009.
That delay caused motorists to use an extra 50 gallons of gasoline that year on average, costing about $1,464, the study found. The Inland Empire didn't do much better: commuters consumed about 25 more gallons of gas and about $741 in additional fuel expenses.
Only motorists in the Chicago and Washington, D.C., areas lost more time -- 70 hours -- in traffic, according to the report.
The 63 hours Southland commuters lost in traffic in 2009 was up from 60 hours in 2008, and up from 76 hours in 1999, the study found.
According to the report, on a national level, congestion costs added up to $115 billion, and the total amount of wasted fuel -- 3.9 billion gallons -- equaled 130 days of flow from the Alaska Pipeline.
"There is no rigid prescription -- no `best way' -- to address congestion problems," said Texas Transportation Institute researcher Tim Lomax.
