Driving in Jersey is the Pits. Your Vote for the Most Congested Roads? [POLL]

Maybe you had no idea just how much additional time we spend in the car, but a new study shows that we here in Jersey in particular, and in the New York Metropolitan Area in general spend up to an additional 59 hours in our cars a year getting to where we have to go.

Personally I think it’s more than that, but I’m just going by gut-feel; and talking to folks that travel by car to get to work, or to go from job to job.

According to this:

The annual Urban Mobility Report found even the amount of time for any given trip is becoming more unpredictable, with congestion increasing not only in our work commute, but weekend and personal trips as well.

(So when you’re out and about on the weekend, where do you find the worst traffic? For me, it’s going to visit family on Staten Island trying to get across the Outerbridge! There’s a way to get there…but if I tell you, I’d have to choke you!)

Drivers commuting in or out of the northern part of the Garden State Parkway should add 88 minutes to many routine 20-minute trips.

The New York/New Jersey metro area ranked third in the report’s “Planning Travel Index.” Washington DC and was the worst in terms of planning ahead, followed by the Los Angeles-Metro area, with drivers needing 114 and 99 minutes, respectively.

The aforementioned figures apply to limited access roads, such as interstate highways, some toll roads and other roads that do not have traffic signals.

The congestion doesn’t just translate to time spent in the car, but also money leaving your pocket. North Jersey burned an average 28 gallons of gas stuck in traffic, second overall.

The cost extends beyond the pump, since time spent going nowhere on the road equals more wear and tear on the vehicle and less time the driver could be productive at work. The study finds for the NY/NJ/Newark/CT drivers, they spent 1,281 annually for their commutes, which ranked third overall.

Commuters in South Jersey and Philly have a slightly easier time, but not by too much. The report shows they spend roughly 48 hours annually in traffic and have to plan up to 69 minutes ahead for a 20 minute trip during peak hours. They also burn off an additional 23 gallons of fuel, which in addition to wear and tear and productivity means they spend 1,018 dollars annually.

The study doesn’t take into account hours lost with the family…time you could be spending with the kids playing violent video games just to blow off steam from the hassle you’d just endured.

Hence, the roads we all look to avoid, and see “green rats” (my dad’s term for anything he did not look forward to doing) every time we think of traveling on them…which ones are they?

Where is traffic most congested in New Jersey?