Study: South Florida In Top 20 For Traffic Congestion

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A new study is confirming what commuters know all too well in South Florida. Traffic is bad and it's only getting worse, not just in South Florida, but across the country.

The report is from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. They are the national authority on transportation issues.

It ranked the Miami-Dade/Broward/Palm Beach region in 12th place of 15 urban areas with the worst traffic congestion in the nation.

Gustavo Gomez can vouch for those findings. He spends an hour going to and from work every day.

"That's two hours of my life I spend doing every day instead of doing something else," said Gomez.

The reason behind the worsening traffic might surprise you. It's the economy. As the economy rebounds, more people hit the road.

Lily Somoano has lived in Miami for 40 years. She thinks the construction is adding to the longer drives too.

"Traffic is like always horrible. I was just on the expressway and I was just thinking of it as soon as I got off here. With all the construction going on, you don't know where to go," said Somoano.

The report tracked 101 urban areas, but only showcases 15 because they are the biggest areas with the most drivers.

According to the report, each drivers wastes about 52 hours in traffic a year.The price tag for those 52 hours of wasted commuter time is $1,169.

With more and more people moving to the Sunshine state, there's no relief on the roads in sight.

Just in case you're wondering, the top three cities for worse traffic are San Francisco at #3, Los Angeles at #2 and Washinton, D.C. at #1.

For the latest traffic information, click here.