Putting On The Brakes

Think you have it bad with your tedious daily commute? The personal finance website nerdwallet.com aggregated the results of several statistics - including average time spent in traffic, local gas prices and population density - to determine which were the 10 worst big cities in the U.S. for drivers. Not surprisingly, New York City tops the list, thanks to an annual average of 59 hours stuck in traffic per commuter, gas prices that run around 7.67 percent higher than the national average and a stiflingly dense population of 27,012 people per square mile. Chicago came in second, due in no small part to fuel costs that are 30 percent higher than the U.S. average. San Francisco was deemed the third most frustrating city in which to drive, with commuters spending a traffic-jammed average of 61 hours behind the wheel each year. The other cities among the offending top 10 include Los Angeles, Boston, Washington D.C., Oakland, Calif., Honolulu, Portland, Ore. and Philadelphia.