A January survey by The Daily Beast online magazine ranked the Baton Rouge gridlock of Interstate 10 as the 13th worst commute on their list of ‘America’s 75 Worst Commutes.’ The Daily Beast found I-10 is congested with bottleneck traffic 93 hours a week. The worst traffic falls on Westbound I-10 by the Bluebonnet Boulevard exit where traffic can pile up more for than a mile and a half. Huey Dugas, director of transporation at the Capital Region Planning Commission,estimates 3.23 million car trips are made per day for about 700,000 people in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Area. ‘In terms of congestion, Baton Rouge is definitely affected,’ Dugas said. The CRPC measures conjestion by determining the volume and capacity of roads. Volume is found by the number of trips on a road, and capacity is determined by the number of lanes on a road. If volume divided by capactiy is greater than one, the road is conjested. Dugas said about 155 corridors in the Baton Rouge area are conjested daily. Baton Rouge will also soon be added to a national report by the Texas Transportation Institute that studies the most congested cities in the United States, according to Dugas. The Daily Beast survey identified four likely reasons for a daily gridlock. One factor is so many Americans work similar hours during the day. Increases in population since roadways were built add to the pile up, along with many families owning multiple cars. Finally, more cars on the road increase the potential for accidents, causing further delays. The survey ranked I-10 in New Orleans 27th worst with traffic conjestion lasting about 93 hours a week. They found the worst pile-up on Westbound I-10 on Bonnabel Boulevard. The survey compiled the list using the peak hour Travel Time Index, which compares how long it takes to complete a trip during peak hours compared to free-flow hours. The survey considered peak hours from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. ____ Contact Grace Montgomery at gmontgomery@lsureveille.com