Report: B.R. traffic slightly improves

Baton Rouge dropped three spots in a national scorecard that measures traffic congestion in U.S. metro areas. The city was ranked 35th in the INRIX National Traffic Scorecard, down slightly from its 32nd place finish in 2008. That ranking came despite the fact that the Capital Region is the 67th largest metro area in terms of population. Meanwhile, the Travel Time Tax in Baton Rouge, which measures the additional costs of commuting, went from 12.2% in 2008 to 12.1% in 2009. Friday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. is still the worst time to commute; INRIX says that drive has the nation’s 11th highest Travel Time Tax. INRIX says traffic congestion decreased in many cities during 2007 and 2008—Baton Rouge was an exception—because of high fuel prices and the recession. But conditions could get worse this year, depending on the pace of the economic recovery. Los Angeles had the worst traffic congestion of any city, followed by New York. New Orleans was ranked 41st. See the full scorecard here.