Fastest Rush Hour Commutes in LA? Here’s Our List

Traffic

 Los Angeles has the worst congestion in the nation.

 But not all commutes are created equal.

We examined 36 major freeway commutes across LA county during rush hours.

Morning rush hour in Los Angeles is from 7-9 am, evening rush hour is from 4-7 pm

Here are our Top 5 fastest: 

5

MORNING

South on the 405

Heading south on the 405 (Between the 10 and the 110) the average speed is

59.0 MPH

 

4

MORNING

North on the 405

Heading north on the 405 (Between the 40 and the 10) the average speed is

61.4 MPH

3

MORNING

East on the 10

Heading east on the 10 (Between the 5 and the 57), the average speed is

62.8 MPH

2

MORNING

North on the 110

Heading north on the 110 (Between Pasadena and the 101) the average speed is

64.0 MPH

 

1

EVENING

West on the 10

Heading west on the 10 (Between the 5 and the 57) the average speed is

65.7 MPH

 

Click here to see our Top 5 slowest commutes.

How we did it:

 

First, we divided the Los Angeles freeway system into nine different segments. For example, we looked at the 10 freeway from Santa Monica till it intersects with the 5 freeway near Downtown. Then we looked at another segment of the 10 between the 5, heading east till it crosses the 57.  Then, we divided each section into two directions (e.g., east and west on the 10, or north and south on the 5).


continued…

Using something called the ADMS database, we were able to calculate the average speed in each directions for every hour of 2017. We then grouped those hours into days of the week, so we have a reading for all Mondays at 6 am, all Tuesdays at 6 am, and so forth. Then, we calculated the average morning and evening rush hour speeds on each section in each direction. Morning rush hour is 7-9 am; evening rush hour is 4-7 pm. Finally, we ranked them from fastest to slowest, and we also looked at the fastest and slowest day of the week.

 

Still have questions about our process? Write to us at askus@crosstowntraffic.org