Whoever first uttered the phrase “patience is a virtue” probably never had to deal with Philadelphia traffic. Either that, or they achieved a state of divine serenity and overcame all human folly while doing so. Sitting in a dead-still lineup of cars has got to be one of the most trying inconveniences of modern life.
The 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard, compiled by Texas A&M University and data collection agency INRIX, ranks 471 United States metro areas to determine how much time and fuel money is lost to traffic congestion in each city. We pulled data on the 11 worst-ranking Pennsylvania cities— read on to find out which made the list.
You might be able to endure traffic in Williamsport, but it's still one of the worst 370 in the country. Each driver here spent an extra 20 hours in their car due to traffic congestion in 2014, and about an extra $434 on gas.
Driving in Erie might make you want to switch to boating, instead. The average driver spent 17 extra hours in traffic in 2014, and Erie residents spent a cumulative $87 million on wasted gas.
We're not blaming the horses and buggies or anything, but traffic in Lancaster is pretty terrible. The town spent a total of 7,807 hours in traffic in 2014, taking an average of $441 out of each person's pocket to pay for wasted fuel.
Ah... Scranton. Home of Michael Scott and traffic jams. In 2014, approximately $188 million came out of commuters' pockets for the amount of excess gas used during traffic congestion. Each driver spent about 21 hours twiddling their thumbs at the steering wheel.
You might be surprised to learn that traffic in Harrisburg is this bad in comparison to some larger Pennsylvania cities. Each commuter here lost about 23 hours sitting in traffic in 2014, adding an additional $562 to each of their fuel tabs that year.
Downtown Allentown is a veritable labyrinth of one-way streets, which make it a slow go. It is the 86th most delayed metropolitan area in the country, with each driver wasting about 30 hours in traffic in 2014. That added up to $694 worth of gas for each person... yikes.
Anyone who's driven in Pittsburgh will tell you that it's not only often congested, but the roads and highways are extremely confusing. If you don't know exactly where you're going, a wrong turn will only make things slower for everyone. Tunnel closures and roadwork frequently hold drivers up, as well. Commuters in Pittsburgh lost a total of 44,758 hours to traffic delays in 2014, about 39 hours per driver.
Unsurprisingly, Philadelphia is the absolute worst city for traffic in the state. It is ranked 22nd in the country of metropolitan areas where commuters lose the most time sitting in traffic, with each commuter wasting an average of 23 excess gallons of fuel each year. That adds up to about $1,112 and 48 lost hours per driver.
No one’s surprised that Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown are the three worst Pennsylvania cities for driving, considering they are the most populous cities in the state; but some of the others are a bit surprising. What do you make of this data?
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
