[CNN]

Photo credit: Wikimedia

The good news is 2008 saw a major decrease in traffic, with drivers in the 100 largest metropolitan areas dealing with a 29% decrease in congestion on average. The bad news is we're seeing it because of an increase in gas prices, which led to less driving and more carpooling, and a decrease in jobs, which led to more people sitting on the couch hoping their unemployment doesn't run out so they can afford to keep their benefits. It's a vicious circle. Much like the pain we're seeing in these community-by-community breakdowns of the most congested intersections in these 20 most congested metro areas.

1. Los Angeles	2. New York	3. Chicago	4. Dallas Fort Worth
5. Washington, D.C.	6. Houston	7. San Francisco	8. Boston
9. Seattle	10. Minneapolis-St. Paul	11. Philadelphia	12. Atlanta
13. Phoenix	14. Miami	15. San Diego	16. Denver
17. Baltimore	18. San Jose	19. Detroit	20. Riverside-San Bernardino

Though traffic does correlate to population rank, with the top four metropolitan areas also in the four worst cities for traffic, there are some anomalies. The Washington, D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria area is only the eighth most populous region in the country but is the fifth worst when it comes to traffic due to its high capacity of employment in the area and the lack of good housing stock for middle class families within "The Beltway" area.

Detroit is 11th largest in terms of population but only has the 19th worst traffic situation, primarily because of a 47% decrease in traffic year-over-year due to the economy and dramatic job loss. The collapse of the housing market hit Riverside-San Bernardino, a.k.a. the Inland Empire, hardest of all. The area saw a drop of 57% in traffic congestion, which is almost the same as the 55% drop in median home prices. While there's probably not a 1:1 ratio between the change in home values and congestion, they're likely connected.

Areas less affected by the housing market still experienced decreases in traffic, but at a lower level. For instance, home prices in Dallas remained stable and traffic congestion only decreased by 13% year-over-year, causing Dallas to move up to the fourth most congested city.

Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago are, as expected, still the worst cities for traffic in America. Los Angeles is so bad that peak hour congestion in Los Angeles is twice what it is in Chicago. The combination of a large population and low density makes L.A. even worse than the more populous New York. Compared to the Big Apple, Los Angeles also has fewer mass transit options.

Click on any of the cities above to see their current rank, population, congestion change and worst time of day for traffic. You can also view a gallery of the 100 worst intersections that fall within each city. A look at the hotspots reveal a few similar trends: intersecting highways, two-lane sections with onramps and merging lanes.

If you're reading this post it means you've actually made it home or made it to work. Congrats. There's probably someone still stuck in traffic.

[via Forbes, Google Earth]

If you're just going to lay these all over town, we don't think drivers will be fooled more than once or twice. But if the police were to combine these virtual 3D speed bumps with, say, real ones, drivers might just slow down rather than trying to distinguish real from fake. What would be even better is a graphic that looks like one of Philly's numerous street vendors. "Wata A Dolla! Ahhhhh!" [Portable Gadgets]

You know you're looking at a genuine deal when the seller starts off his description with "YO!!!!!!!!" and finishes it with "BUT ITS ALL THERE!!!!!!!!!" See, that's because extra punctuation equals sincerity. And Philadelphia, where it's OK to pass out on the gas pedal of your Audi, is all about the sincerity. So feel confident when you drop $2500 on this 1963 Jeep FC-150 (go here if the ad disappears), because it "runs good." Oh, sure, even the seller will admit it "extensive body work" (probable translation: turns out spray paint doesn't fix rust), but once you read this FC-150 site you won't care. Just imagine the fun you'll have with a big AMC 401 in this thing, kicking up the mud!

French cars really epitomize the Project Car Hell concept, but what happens when you build a French design in Falange-run car factories over the border in Spain? You get this 1964 Spanish-built Citröen 2CV (go here if the ad disappears), available for the same price as the Jeep. Yes, it's a genuine DosCaballos, a machine that combines the huggable warmth of Charles De Gaulle with the lighthearted playfulness of Francisco Franco! This one needs a few things, including some rust repair (according to the seller, "Rust is at the bottom of the A-pillars and in outer floors, otherwise SOLID," which somehow doesn't sound all that solid to us). Supposedly the engine runs, although there's no mention of any of the other mechanical components (probable translation: it can sit there and make noise, but not actually move under its own power). Naturally, we suggest Hayabusa-izing it once you've dealt with the iron oxide situation.

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Drunk Dad Passes Out While Pumping Gas [internal]

A Foster's Lager truck apparently lost its sense of balance and tipsied on up, expelling its cargo of kegs all over South Philly's Schuylkill Expressway. And it apparently wasn't being filmed for a clever ad. But we're still sitting here repeating "Remoawt Controawl" over and over in our best Paul Hogan accent and reminiscing about this really cute Australian girl who went and got knocked up before we were clear for a shot at her. She so hated it when we used to get right in her face and say, "Beeeah!" And then she'd slap us playfully and made us sorta wish we weren't kinda dating the person who introduced us.

What's Australian for "Schuylkill," mate? [Attytood]

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East Bound, Burned Down: Coors Truck Goes Up in Smoke on Bay Bridge [Internal]