If you need more evidence of how tricky it is to get around Southern California, note that four of its cities ranked among the 20 worst places for mobility on the planet.
My trusty spreadsheet reviewed a curious scorecard of navigation challenges by cell-service provider Holafly, which tracked 150 cities globally, including 69 from the U.S. and 13 from California. The grades were calculated by assessing mobility variables related to traffic, air quality, crime, walkability, public transit, cellular service and online searches for directions. And note that on this scorecard, the higher the ranking, the more difficult a city is to navigate.
According to this math, Los Angeles ranks as the world’s third-trickiest city to get around. That was also the lowest grade among U.S. cities studied.
You can link L.A.’s dubious distinction to 88 extra hours lost to traffic, the 20th-highest burden globally. Plus, the typical 57-minute commute ranked second-longest among the 150 cities.
But it wasn’t just crowded L.A. freeways that generated such a lowly score. The city had the 42nd-worst air quality and ranked 49th in crime.
To the east of L.A., Riverside ranked No. 11 on this global scorecard, placing it also as the third-hardest-to-navigate city in the U.S.
Riverside had 34 hours of traffic-related delay, the 100th highest globally. Its 54-minute commute was No. 4 of 150. Riverside ranked 39th worst for air quality and No. 99 for crime.
Orange County pair
The 19th-hardest-to-navigate globally was Santa Ana, which also ranked No. 7 in the U.S. in terms of difficulty.
It had 81 hours lost to traffic, ranked No. 24 globally, and a 43-minute commute, ranked the 26th-longest. Air quality was the 64th-worst, and crime was the 47th-highest.
Anaheim was the No. 20 most challenging city for navigation in the world, and the eighth-worst in the U.S. Its residents lost 33 hours to traffic, No. 104 globally, a 42-minute commute, No. 35, and ranked No. 47 for air quality and No. 59 for crime.
Mobility nightmares
Now, mobility nightmares are an almost inescapable part of big city life. And this scorecard highlights the challenges.
But this New York City native will note that congestion can also be a yardstick of popularity. Folks tend to crowd into desirable places, as big cities usually offer plentiful economic and entertainment opportunities.
New York City’s ranking as the world’s 44th most difficult to navigate might seem relatively high. But don’t forget the city’s high walkability and numerous mass transit options – mobility attributes that much of Southern California lacks.
Four other American cities with extremely poor mobility were Houston, sixth-worst globally, Chicago (13th), Miami (16th), and Atlanta (17th).
Elsewhere in Southern California? Long Beach was the No. 27 trickiest globally, Irvine was No. 51 and San Diego, No. 74.
And other California cities? Oakland (25th worst mobility), San Jose (39th), Fresno (78th), Stockton (81st), Sacramento (88th), and Bakersfield (114th).
The world’s worst
The trickiest place to navigate on the planet, by this math, was Delhi, India. No. 2 was Lima, Peru.
Other foreign cities among the 20 worst for mobility: Colombia’s Bogota (4th), Brazil’s São Paulo (5th), Mexico City (7th), South Africa’s Cape Town (8th), Indonesia’s Jakarta (9th), India’s Mumbai (10th), Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro (12th), Argentina’s Buenos Aires (14th), India’s Hyderabad (15th) and South Korea’s Busan (18th).
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com