Which Texas Cities are Worst for Traffic?

It turns out that Texas’ most progressive cities are not only unaffordable, but they’re also terribly gridlocked.

According to Inrix’s new 2023 Global Traffic Scorecard, there were 4 Texas cities that ranked among the most heavily congested in the U.S. Those cities were: Houston (#8), Dallas (#17), Austin (#21), and San Antonio (#25). It goes without saying that the governing bodies in each of those communities leans Left, to say the least.

Politics aside, the data suggests that the average Houston-area commuter lost 62 hours to gridlock, which is roughly equal to one-and-a-half weeks’ worth of lost productivity and time, or about $1,082 per driver. In Dallas and Austin, drivers lost an average of 38 hours to gridlock, valued at $658 per driver and $663 per driver, respectively. In San Antonio, drivers lost 35 hours to congestion, valued at $607 per driver.

Furthermore, the situation appears to have worsened year-over-year in 3 of the 4 cities ranked. One possible reason why is that Texas’ large cities have unleashed a cost-of-living crisis through over-taxation and overregulation, prompting many to flee the urban core and seek refuge in the outskirts. As a result, these ex-city residents have been forced to commute more frequently and over longer distances, which has helped make a bad situation worse.

Unfortunately for everyone stuck on the highway, it’s unlikely that the situation will improveany time soon. That’s because Texas’ large cities don’t seem to want to ease congestion through conventional means, i.e. roadway expansion, but are instead motivated by environmental and ideological beliefs to emphasize the unrealistic, i.e. fixed rail, bike lanes, trails, and walkable streets. These are not so much traffic congestion solutions as they are inducements to behavior modification borne out of climate change hysteria.

Given the direction of things, it may be time to ask: When will state policymakers stop the anti-car agenda taking root in Texas’ largest cities and require actual solutions to ease traffic congestion? Because that time can’t come soon enough.