A consulting firm, Acadis, found that the only place worse to drive in North America than Houston is Tampa. That's right. We're beat out only by a city in Florida.
I believe it, too, because I live on 290. I filed a complaint with TXDOT after sitting in traffic for two hours on Sunday and only moving a half a mile. (Yes, I know the freeway was closed ahead. Don't @ me!) Check out my tweets below.
Houston's problem is that we have too many damn people and crap public transportation.
The study ranked cities based on financial investments and infrastructure improvements to urban transportation systems, commuting travel time, affordability of public transit, pollution and more. (KHOU)
New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, Montreal, and DC are the top 5 best cities for drivers. It's that sweet, sweet subway system that landed NYC the top spot. I am SO jealous of their subway. That said, I've driven in Vancouver at rush hour. It's not amazing for drivers, I promise.
The most depressing part of the whole thing is that the transportation expert KHOU spoke with said there's no one easy fix for Houston's transportation problem, other than to manage our expectation.
So basically, be prepared to spend 2 hours starting at the same slice of freeway on a Sunday afternoon. Stock snacks in your car, and an empty bottle in case you need to pee. (And a She-Wee for the ladies.)
(Study)