Honk, honk!

Commuters in L.A. and Orange counties waste 72 hours a year stuck in rush-hour traffic, but “the Inland Empire and the Ventura area are gaining ground,” says the LA Times, in a rare 909 compliment of sorts.

Gaining ground how? San Bernardino and Riverside motorists spend 49 extra hours crawling through traffic, up from nine hours 20 years ago. That’s according to the Texas Transportation Institute, source of all these numbers, in its annual report on traffic delays. LA/OC is No. 1 in the nation, the IE is No. 13. (But we try harder.)

How bad is it? Overall, traffic congestion drained $78 billion from the national economy, the institute claims. I don’t know how they come up with that number and don’t care to wade through their study to find out.

My own research reveals that $23 billion in productivity is lost each year deciphering, pondering and writing about the Texas Transportation Institute study.

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