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Comment by t-writescode | Hacker News Reader

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/worst-traffic-cities-americ...

According to this, Austin Texas is #10 on this chart.

  #1, LA
  #2, NYC
  #3, San Fran
  #4, San Jose (near San Fran)
  #5, Seattle
  #6, Miami
  #7, DC
  #8, Chicago
  #9, Honolulu
  #10, Austin

*two* of the top 5 worst traffic areas in the US are in the Greater San Francisco area.

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that data uses "congestion" which is the ratio of the worst traffic time to the best traffic time. If you look at average commute times austin is way down on the list.

I was looking for this comment.

Not because I know anything about Texas or California, or about traffic as a field, but because any data set - especially a list - can be used to present an argument and then be refuted due to "this detail". I see this on HN a lot and I believe that it has made me much less likely to be misled by someone toting data.

Again... LA has a surprisingly extensive subway system. NYC, SF, Miami, DC, and Chicago all have robust public transit. Even San Jose and Seattle have non-negligible transit alternatives.

Austin has essentially nothing, the train they built is legitimately the dumbest, cheapest option that was offered at the time, though they are building dense housing along it now. People often choose which side of the river to live on because of traffic. You're simply not going to convince me that Austin isn't one of the worst cities to commute in, because unless you want to bike in 100ºF heat, you literally have no choice but to engage in it, especially if you have to cross the river.

And yet with all that, their transit is *STILL* worse.

Have you lived in these places? I mean, come on. Miami does not have robust public transit. You can't possibly call Metrorail robust. Next you'll tell me Atlanta has robust public transit too.

Yes Miami has much worse and much more dangerous traffic than SF. The number of accidents on I-95 is insane. Meanwhile many people in the Bay Area just take BART or walk to work which is essentially impossible in Miami.

Seattle's public transportation is poorly connected and confused at best. Mismanaged and terrible at worst. It seems like a ponzi scheme masquerading as a public transportation system, at times. There's a demand for it, which is the sad truth of the situation.

Seattle could be better connected, but it isn’t that bad. If you are going downtown, you can get something, even something lateral Ballard to Bellevue requires just one connection.

As long as Seattle is your source or destination, Seattle's transit is pretty okay.

If you dare go Eastside; or, worse, need to go from like Renton to Totem Lake; or Redmond to somewhere that isn't the the center of Bellevue, you're just never going to get there in a reasonable amount of time.

Sure, but the east side is fairly anti transit compared to the west side. Look at the drama Bellevue put everyone through for the new link route from Seattle to Redmond via Mercer island.

Also, Renton to Totem Lake should only be one connection given a weird sound transit airport route (590?) from West Seattle to Bellevue that goes through Renton.

these are at least all getting addressed with the massive upgrades that are ongoing. Local Eastside transit will be much better once East Link is opened and bus hours wasted on I-90 are redeployed to serve local areas.

Renton to Totem Lake in particular is planned for 2024-25. https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/i-405-brt

North-South traffic in Austin is the big problem. Because Austin stretches from North to South-- from the suburb of Kyle in the South, or the suburb of Georgetown to the North.

East-West commuting is much easier. The wise strategy is to live East/West of town, not North/South.

I've always heard boston was terrible traffic. Didn't make top 10?

Yea I lived in Boston and now Seattle. Boston was much worse and my commute a shorter distance in Boston took longer (not downtown)

That’s true, but Boston has a huge public transit network. My commute, 14 miles from a suburb to downtown, is a 14 minute train ride. Seattle is getting there with the link but it’s still decades away from being even close to what Boston has

They came in at #13 on that list. While traffic's bad in Boston, commuting via public transit is actually a viable alternative. It's very dense and has a solid commuter rail system in addition to an expansive (if aging) subway system. It's also very bike / pedestrian friendly.

Seattle traffic isn't so bad if you WFH.

The Wine Country to SF Company commute is a matter of minutes when it's in your pajamas and across the hall.

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