Portland traffic ranks low

When you're on the highway driving 55 in the left lane and passing people, you know you're someplace different. Seriously.

It's kind of crazy. Normally 55 in the left lane will get you the number-one salute, but that's in other cities. I know. I've driven in them. In Portland, however, 55 seems to be just fine.

That's my opinion of Portland traffic. It exists. It's just not that bad. Maybe it will be one day. After all, another million people are expected to populate the metro area in the next 20 years or so.

For now, I'll take it (knock on wood). As to that, a company that monitors traffic, INRIX, ranks Portland 21st for most congested traffic.

According to INRIX, congestion in Portland Metro increased 1.2% from 2006 to 2007, well below the national average of 2%.

Highlights from the report on Portland traffic include:

Worst Bottleneck: I-5 northbound at Marine Drive. The study says this stretch sees 26 hours of congestion a week with traffic slowing to just under 14 miles per hour. Of the top 15 bottlenecks in the area, 10 of them are along I-5 from downtown to the Columbia River. Two of the top 15 are in Clark County and one of them is in Washington County.

Worst Rush Hour: Friday from 5pm to 6pm, when congestions lengthens the commute by 50%.

Best Rush Hour: Monday from 9am to 10am, when there's hardly any congestion at all.

Still, Portlanders can take heart that we're nowhere near as bad as #1 ranked Los Angeles where congestion is roughly 9 times worse than it is here. And the last place you want to be during rush hour? It's Honolulu, Hawaii from 5pm to 6pm on Thursdays. You'll be crawling along at an agonizing slow 8 miles per hour.

Here are top 10 most congested metropolitan areas in the U.S.:

1. Los Angeles, CA
2. New York, NY
3. Chicago, IL
4. Washington D.C.
5. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
6. San Francisco, CA
7. Houston, TX
8. Boston, MA
9. Seattle, WA
10. Atlanta, GA