The 5 worst roads and how to manage them

Apparently, Philly’s traffic is now worse than Los Angeles, if that could even be possible.

According to transportation research firm INRIX, Philadelphia is actually the fourth most traffic-congested city in the nation, with traffic increasing by 27% over last year. We trail Chicago, Boston and New York City in the rankings.

The silver lining is that traffic isn’t as bad as pre-pandemic times.

The Inquirer spoke with analysts at INRIX and the city’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS) to help you better understand Philadelphia’s traffic trends and steer clear of congestion zones.

5 of the most traffic-congested roads in Philadelphia

If a Philadelphian had to make their best guess of what the worst road for traffic in the city is, common answers are going to be I-76, I-676, I-95 or even Roosevelt Blvd. However, they’d be wrong.

The section of roadway with the worst traffic in the city is actually on North Broad Street, according to INRIX. In between Germantown Ave. and Ridge Ave. — basically the stretch of road where Temple University Main and Medical campuses sit — drivers can expect to wait an additional eight minutes on average for every ride through there.

How to beat Philly traffic

As usual, drivers will want to avoid Philadelphia’s peak travel times which are 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the morning and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the afternoon — with 4 p.m. being the worst time for driving if you want to avoid traffic, according to INRIX.

Drivers spend, on average, an additional 30 minutes in traffic each day than they would have if there were no traffic congestion, according to INRIX. If you’re a commuter that means account for about 15 extra minutes for both to and from work trips. Pro tip: If your drive is usually 30 minutes, and you need to be on time, give yourself at least 45 to 50 minutes to complete the drive.

According to INRIX, highways tend to be the first roadways to experience heavy traffic, then traffic congestion spills out into smaller streets. Philadelphia is somewhat unique because the city’s traffic isn’t concentrated on specific roads and areas like other cities. Sure, there are more busy roads than others, but Philly’s traffic is more spread out across the city.

OTIS’ Director of Policy & Strategic Initiatives, Chris Puchalsky, said that could partly be due to Philadelphia’s extensive grid-like layout. “With a grid system, the good part is that it can spread [traffic congestion] around, but then that means there’s not necessarily just like one or two bottlenecks.”

What is causing increased traffic in Philadelphia?

Philly is crawling up the list of worst cities for traffic mostly due to people and jobs rebounding from COVID-19. There are simply just more cars on the road again.

More people driving to work: Employees who worked from home are now transitioning into part-time or full-time in-office work. Additionally, COVID-19 restrictions have mostly been lifted outside of government and medical buildings.

SEPTA ridership still down: The number of people using public transportation in the city is about half of what it was before the pandemic, according to SEPTA reports. Fewer people using busses, trains and trolleys mean more people in cars on the road. However, ridership is increasing.

Outside of COVID-19, major drivers of traffic (pun intended) are daily commuting and college traveling, according to INRIX’s traffic analyst, Bob Pishue. Interestingly enough, the worst roadway for traffic in the city is smack dab in the middle of Temple University’s two North Philly campuses.

How does the city respond to traffic?

OTIS, working alongside PennDOT and various police agencies, monitor and respond to the city’s massive traffic and transportation needs.

A top-level overview of these operations includes keeping a record of high-traffic and high-crash areas to identify where roadway remediation is needed, implementing programs in those areas to reduce traffic like enabling more reliable public transportation, and a traffic control center that can identify traffic slowdowns and adjust nearby signal timing on the fly.

According to Puchalsky, a big focus for OTIS is increasing bus lanes and making it easier and safer to use public transportation options as they efficiently move more people than cars do: ”A bus is carrying maybe 50 people which takes up the same space as two or three cars that might have five people,” he said.

Additionally, roadway projects, like Chestnut Street and Washington Avenue, that allow drivers and delivery people to park, idle, and perform drop-offs without interrupting traffic will help clear up city streets.