Really? Dallas worst commute in USA?

DFWJC

Well-Known Member
Messages
60,207
Reaction score
48,984
CowboysZone LOYAL Fan
I saw an article about cities that had certain highways that had terrible traffic jams and Dallas was one of the worst. But if you take average commute times for all commuters, Dallas is nowhere near as bad as some cities. Certainly not Houston or LA.

On the other hand, you can always actually live IN city limits. My commute is 10 minutes to downtown door to door, and I have no highways to get on, yet I live in a real nighborhood with nice old and newer homes, huge trees, parks, and coffee shops and restaurants all in walking distance. It's called Lakewood in Dallas. Dallas' Park Cites also have those qualities with bascially no commute.
 

YosemiteSam

Unfriendly and Aloof!
Messages
45,858
Reaction score
22,194
CowboysZone LOYAL Fan
Yeagermeister;3748265 said:
Whoever wrote this hasn't spent much time in Houston.

I haven't commuted in Dallas in several years, but LBJ near Central Expressway was a freaking train wreck. Not to mention getting around in Plano could be a mess too.

North Loop 820 on the east side of i35 in Fort Worth is nasty too.

As for commute time, I commute 1 1/2 hours each way. It's not bad though. I'm on the subway for about 20mins and and the train for about 55 minutes. (the rest is switching between train and subway, etc) I sleep in the morning and read on the way home. It's 1000x better than sitting in traffic!!!
 

DFWJC

Well-Known Member
Messages
60,207
Reaction score
48,984
CowboysZone LOYAL Fan
nyc;3748374 said:
I haven't commuted in Dallas in several years, but LBJ near Central Expressway was a freaking train wreck. Not to mention getting around in Plano could be a mess too.

North Loop 820 on the east side of i35 in Fort Worth is nasty too.

As for commute time, I commute 1 1/2 hours each way. It's not bad though. I'm on the subway for about 20mins and and the train for about 55 minutes. (the rest is switching between train and subway, etc) I sleep in the morning and read on the way home. It's 1000x better than sitting in traffic!!!
They built a new high-rise overpass at that LBJ/Central nightmare and it has helped a lot. Still, during rush hour, both of those highways are a mess. Highway 30 can be nasty too.

3 hours a day just for commuting is a lot of your life in a car/train/subway. No doubt that a subway or train beats sitting in traffic though. I'd prefer neither, but sometimes that's not an option. At least you can get some reading and sleep in.
 

MonsterD

Quota outta absentia
Messages
8,145
Reaction score
5,881
Just due to the amount of construction in Dallas I would say yes. There are a lot of roads and highways under construction and couple that with how dumb the drivers are and you get that 30 car pile up a couple weeks ago.
 

Maikeru-sama

Mick Green 58
Messages
14,548
Reaction score
6
Not sure about other cities but I can see Dallas being pretty high on the list.

At my current client, I have a 140 mile daily commute and there is construction everywhere.

If you don't get past Bush/I-35 by around 4:15, you will be waiting a few hours.
 

Maikeru-sama

Mick Green 58
Messages
14,548
Reaction score
6
DFWJC;3748390 said:
They built a new high-rise overpass at that LBJ/Central nightmare and it has helped a lot. Still, during rush hour, both of those highways are a mess. Highway 30 can be nasty too.

3 hours a day just for commuting is a lot of your life in a car/train/subway. No doubt that a subway or train beats sitting in traffic though. I'd prefer neither, but sometimes that's not an option. At least you can get some reading and sleep in.

True.

What sucks is that in the morning it takes only about an hour to get from Murphy/Plano to Ft Worth. But if I don't leave at 3:30 PM on the dot, it will take me almost 2 1/2 to get home.

The worst highways in the morning are:
The Dallas North Tollway, North and Southbound
I-30 going West to Dallas
I-35 going North to Dallas
183 going East to Dallas
I-35W going North to Ft Worth

As I stated, those are even worse in the evening.
 

joseephuss

Well-Known Member
Messages
28,041
Reaction score
6,920
So, does this study only focus on the traditional travel times of morning and afternoon commutes? If so, then I could see Dallas being the worst, but what about other times. What about people who work overnight shifts? They have a commute as well and I doubt driving at midnight is as bad in Dallas as it is in LA.
 

CliffnDallas

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,484
Reaction score
215
DFWJC;3748345 said:
I saw an article about cities that had certain highways that had terrible traffic jams and Dallas was one of the worst. But if you take average commute times for all commuters, Dallas is nowhere near as bad as some cities. Certainly not Houston or LA.

On the other hand, you can always actually live IN city limits. My commute is 10 minutes to downtown door to door, and I have no highways to get on, yet I live in a real nighborhood with nice old and newer homes, huge trees, parks, and coffee shops and restaurants all in walking distance. It's called Lakewood in Dallas. Dallas' Park Cites also have those qualities with bascially no commute.

I'm in Lakewood near Gaston and Skillman. 3 1/2 miles from work downtown straight down Ross. :)
 

SaltwaterServr

Blank Paper Offends Me
Messages
8,124
Reaction score
1
casmith07;3748989 said:
Washington DC says hello.

I got to say LA is waaaaaaaay up there from dealing with real estate clients moving from LA.

You would tell them that sometimes the commute in San Antonio can be a half hour or 45 minutes if there's a wreck and you're coming out of downtown to north of 1604 on 281.

They'd laugh. A wreck on a LA freeway? 3 hours, minimum, for the same distance driven.
 

DallasCowpoke

Fierce Allegiance
Messages
5,539
Reaction score
302
After reading all these replies, I couldn't be happier to be semi-retired and working from home.

I haven't been forced to involuntarily fight Dallas morning or afternoon rush hour in probably 7-8 years.

100+ mile daily commute!? There's no way I'd wake up daily knowing that's what started and ended my work day.
 

CowboyDan

Anger is a Gift
Messages
3,476
Reaction score
215
All I know for sure is y'all are the worst drivers in the U.S.A.

-The left lane is the passing lane people!
-At any given time, on a 6 lane highway, you can be surrounded by 30 cars traveling at 30 different speeds, with a 50 mph variance between them.
-You don't know how a Stop sign works. You just sit there, as if a Go sign is needed to assist you.
-Stop writing all over your windows....it's annoying and it doesn't help your vision. (not that your looking out for other cars around you anyway)
-Pull out in front of me one more time from the shoulder of the highway whiles I'm humming along at 75, please.
-When you're hauling things in your pickup, tie them down, or they fly out all over the highway when you hit a bump.....and there are a lot of bumps on these highways.
-Don't put your dog in the bed of your pickup truck.....they fly out all over the highway when you hit a bump.....and there are a lot of bumps on these highways.
-Don't put your kids in the bed of your pickup truck....they fly out....you get the point.
-Even if you don't live in a county that requires it, get your car inspected once a year....because you obviously have no clue how to keep your car safe for road use. It's not just your safety I'm worried about...it's mine.
-It's rain.....it won't hurt you.....keep driving. No need to stop when it drizzles or crawl along at 10mph.
-It's a schoolzone...the speed is 25mph.....you're doing 10mph...what's wrong with you?
-Texting while driving is a worldwide epidemic...but it is at a peak in the DFW Metroplex. Stop it...please, now....thank you.
-Get your windshield fixed. It's dangerous and stupid to drive around with 5 large cracks in your windshield. Surely you have to realize this.
-Motorcyclists...the highway is not your personal stunt track. Chill on the white-lining and 5 mile long power-wheelies. They look cool, until you're laying under a truck.
I'm sure there's more, feel free to add to the list...:rolleyes:
 

Kangaroo

Active Member
Messages
9,893
Reaction score
1
Yeagermeister;3748265 said:
Whoever wrote this hasn't spent much time in Houston.

I visited Dallas area enough to drive in their traffic and I live in Houston for like 12 years now and both cities are better than the traffic I hit when I gone to Atlanta the last 3 years
 

Doomsday101

Well-Known Member
Messages
107,762
Reaction score
39,034
Yeagermeister;3748265 said:
Whoever wrote this hasn't spent much time in Houston.

Lived here most of my life and seldom have a problem. If you know alternative routes to travel and pay attention to the morning traffic reports it can be easy.
 
Top