Ah, the great gridlock of October 17, 2013. Atlantans remember it well... or at least they should according to a new report from GPS manufacturer TomTom, which says that fateful day, when the pavement on 85 near Clairmont Road collapsed after heavy rains and a broken water pipe, was the most congested day for Atlanta drivers all year. (The smart money is on January 28 for 2014, so go ahead and call your bookie.) The annual study shows that for Atlanta, Tuesdays serve up the worst morning commutes and Thursdays hit afternoon commuters the hardest. These are interesting stats, but the most glorious tidbit in the study is the list of most congested cities. Most Atlantans would expect to be in the top 10. But no! Top 20? Nope! Top 25? Negatory, good buddy! Top 30. Okay, yeah. But that's pretty good, right? And surprising. Atlanta landed at number 27, meaning our traffic is more under control than San Diego's or Houston's but less manageable than Philly's or Nashville's.
But before we get too pleased with ourselves, consider this: TomTom used 30,331 miles of road — 543 miles of highway and 29,788 miles of non-highway — to calculate its numbers, which indicate that workers with a 30 minute commute lost 73 hours to delay last year. That's almost two extra work weeks spent in our cars.
· TomTom Americas Traffic Index [PDF]
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