(NEXSTAR) – If you live in one of these cities, you probably don’t need me to tell you traffic is bad. At least six California metro areas are now experiencing worse road congestion than they were before the pandemic in 2019, a study by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute found.
While metro areas with a lot of office workers — like San Jose — have seen traffic congestion stay significantly below pre-pandemic levels, not all California cities have been so lucky. Most are back within striking distance of pre-COVID congestion, and a handful are actually worse off.
The Riverside and San Bernardino area, for example, had about 7% more traffic delay time in 2022 than it did in 2019. Stockton was similar, with a 6% increase in traffic.
Sacramento, as well as the Indio/Cathedral City area, saw a 4% increase between 2019 and 2022. Oxnard saw a 3% bump.
Of all the California cities studied, things were worst in Bakersfield, where traffic delays are up about 10% compared to pre-COVID.
What could be contributing to worse congestion in the affected cities? One thing many of the cities with worsening traffic have in common is trucking traffic.
Trucks and delivery vehicles are zipping around the country more than ever before, from fulfillment centers to retails stores and doorsteps, explained David Schrank, a senior research scientist and primary author of the Institute’s Urban Mobility Report. If you look at cities with worsening traffic, many are at the intersection of key trucking corridors, meaning there’s constant movement on the roads — even outside of commuter traffic.
People have also shifted to new cities since the pandemic, heading to the suburbs and exurbs for more space, but leaving them with a longer commute now that they’re back in the office.
Of all the California cities analyzed in the report, San Jose saw the biggest drop in traffic between 2019 and 2022 at about 15%.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno and San Diego were all still slightly better off than 2019, by a 2% to 5% reduction in total annual delay. But that margin is so small, drivers may not feel like they’re actually better off when they hit the roads.
