We have always known that driving in Seattle traffic is bad. Every year it seems to get just a little bit worse. I can remember when I was a kid, my dad talking about how bad Seattle traffic Was. He worked for Boeing; we lived in Burien, but for a while he worked at the “Everett plant”. His daily commute was one hour each way. At that time, we thought that was ridiculous. By today’s standards, that’s just an average day.
My daughter Beth commutes from Lynnwood to downtown Seattle for work every day. Her average commute in the morning runs about 50 minutes, and in the afternoon when she’s going home, anywhere from 50 minutes to an hour and 15.
How bad is it?
Over the years, Seattle traffic has just gotten worse. Ohh yes, we all complain about it, but what do you do?
According to Seattletimes.com,‘ According to the latest TomTom Traffic Index, Seattle ranked seventh among U.S. cities for congestion in 2025. The average congestion level in 2025 was about 45%, meaning trips took nearly one-and-a-half times as long as they would under free-flow conditions. That was up roughly 2.5 percentage points from the year before, when Seattle ranked eighth for congestion.’…