There's another downside to living in the Bay Area.

According to a study by WalletHub, San Francisco is now America's worst city for drivers and Oakland is the second worst. What does that mean exactly? Let's examine:

WalletHub's 12 experts (including the University of California, Berkeley's Susan Shaheen) looked at the 100 largest cities in the United States and examined them through the lens of 25 different car-related factors in four main categories: Cost of Ownership & Maintenance, Traffic & Infrastructure, Safety, and Access to Vehicles & Maintenance. Each of the 25 factors were assigned point values and WalletHub added up each city's score, with 100 being the highest, or a perfect score.

San Francisco scored a 29.46.
Oakland scored a 36.37.

No one is worse than us. The next worst city in California is Los Angeles, coming in at 91st place with a score of 42.16. San Jose came in 87th with a score of 45.18.

All of the top scoring cities were out in the middle of nowhere Texas. For example, Corpus Christie came in first with a score of 69.76. San Francisco also tied with several other cities for worst traffic congestion, and Oakland tied with four other cities for highest car theft rate and highest average gas prices. The Bay Area scored OK only in weather-related factors.

This latest study echoes a report released last fall that suggests Bay Area traffic has increased as much as 70 percent in the last six years — and a lot of people are going to tell you that rideshare companies share some blame for that. A new report released in June suggests that Uber and Lyft alone account for 15 to 20 percent of weekday traffic in San Francisco.

But hey, at least we still have a world-class public transit system.

Related: Driving Apps Like Waze Are Making Traffic Worse, Says Expert

We all feel that traffic in the Bay Area are worse than ever, and now the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has the stats to prove it, with the release of their 2014 rankings of the Bay Area’s most congested freeway segments. Yeah, the news is as bad as you might think...and if it was that bad in 2014, just think how crummy it is now. Ugh!

The ranking is part of the MTC's Vital Signs trend monitor (which is actually super interesting, check it out here). Here's their confirmation that things on the roads suck more than they did in past years (bold font is mine, not theirs):

Across the region, “congested delay,” which MTC defines as time spent in traffic moving at speeds of 35 miles per hour or less, ticked up 3 percent in 2014 to an average of 2.7 minutes per commuter each weekday from 2.6 minutes in 2013. This marks the Bay Area’s highest recorded level of congested delay on a per-commuter basis and a nearly 40 percent increase over the 1.9-minutes-per-commuter-per-day figure registered in 2010.

Freeway congestion around the Bay Area is increasing faster than either population or employment. Since 2000, per-commuter congested delay has risen by 23 percent while the region’s population has grown by 10 percent, and total regional employment at the end of 2014 was only about 1 percent higher than turn-of-the-century levels.

And now, their list of the worst commutes to see this peak congestion in action:

1. 10: The morning commute on northbound 101 from Story Road in East San Jose to Montague Expressway in Santa Clara
2. 9: The afternoon commute on eastbound State Route 24 from the 580 interchange in Oakland through the Caldecott Tunnel to Orinda
3. 8: The westbound morning commute on 205 and 580 over the Altamont Pass to Dublin
4. 7: The afternoon commute on eastbound 80 from the Bay Bridge toll plaza area to Albany
5. 6: The northbound 680 commute over the Sunol Grade from Mission Blvd. in Fremont to State Route 84 in Sunol
6. 5: The afternoon commute northbound on 680 from San Ramon to Pleasant Hil
7. 4: The eastbound afternoon commute on 101 and 80 from 280 in San Francisco out to the Bay Bridge just east of the Treasure Island Tunnel
8. 3: The afternoon commute on southbound 101 from Fair Oaks Avenue in Sunnyvale to Oakland Road in North San Jose
9. 2: The morning drive on southbound 880 from San Leandro to Milpitas

Annnnd, your winner is:

1. 1: The 17-mine westbound morning commute along 80 from Hercules to the Bay Bridge toll plaza

Congratulations! HAHAHA! Not really!

Related: Here Are All The Reasons Traffic Sucks More Than Ever In SF
Toll Report: Commutes Getting Bad Even At Earliest Hours

“The number of people on the move between 4 and 5 o’clock is up, and up strongly,” Metropolitan Transit Commission spokesman John Goodwin told KRON 4 last month. Echoing that statement — traffic across toll bridges is getting worse, even at earlier, typically non-rush hours like 5 a.m. — the Chronicle ran some numbers.

The Bay Area Toll Authority reports that across the Bay Bridge, travel between 5 and 10 a.m. is up by 11 percent over 2010. Meanwhile the San Mateo Bridge has seen a 29 percent increase in morning commuters over the same period, the Dumbarton Bridge is up by 27 percent, with the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge up 21 percent.

KTVU’s traffic reporter Sal Castaneda notes that metering lights on the Bay Bridge are, these mornings, flickering on 15 minutes earlier than was once typical, at around 5:30 a.m. compared to 5:45 a.m. Since that same 2010 benchmark, on the Bay Bridge there's been a 75 percent increase in cars between 5 and 6 a.m., an 81 percent increase on the San Mateo Bridge, a 61 percent spike on the Dumbarton Bridge, and a 43 percent increase on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

“The 5 o’clock hour is like the 6 o’clock hour used to be," Castanada said. "A broken-down car at 5:30 can affect traffic until 10 a.m.”

As senior vice president for public policy at the business group the Bay Area Council, Michael Cunningham adds his perspective on job growth to the conversation surrounding commute woes. “As jobs have been getting added in San Francisco or on the Peninsula,” he said, “the choice has been either to go in early while there still is some capacity on the bridge — and that time keeps getting pushed earlier and earlier — or go in later, or go in during peak and just wait in line.”

As far as traffic within the City of San Francisco proper, the Chronicle wrote this spring that the numbers don't tell the whole sad story. Still, one somewhat speculative figure they do point to is the perhaps 15,000 Uber and Lyft cars on our streets. While those fleets may speed some up, they slow others down.

Related: Ten Years Of Bay Area Traffic Fatalities Mapped

It's no secret that, in my esteemed opinion, San Francisco harbors some of the worst drivers in California. (But I'm one too, folks, hence I refuse to own/drive a car!) Which is why, in part, Baghdad by the Bay added some new bike lanes to problem areas around the city. However, according to authorities, those lanes might be causing more problem than they're preventing.

KTVU has more:

Specifically there is concern that confused or careless drivers attempting right turns are cutting off cyclists.

"There's a lot of confusion as to how to properly negotiate certain segments of the roadway," said San Francisco Police Commander Mikail Ali. "Cars making right hand turns at intersections is probably one of the number one sources of conflict between motorists and bicyclists."

Ali said many drivers don't realize they must merge into the bike lanes to make right turns. The key, he said, is to use the broken lines in the bike lanes as the cue to "take" the lane- while keeping an eye out for bicyclists.

Let's repeat that: drivers must merge into the bike lanes to make right turns.

We still need more new bikes lanes, though. (This brightly-colored one on Polk is a great start.) So it's time to start using your signal and stop making thoughtless right turns, drivers. Here's a helpful guide to get you started.

A cyclist was sent to the hospital after getting slammed by a truck driver making a U-turn on Market and Front Tuesday night.

The happened a little after 10 p.m. at Market and Front. According to SF Appeal, "The bicyclist was taken to San Francisco General Hospital to be treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening."

The driver, who remained at the scene, was cited and released, proving us with a good reminder that making U-turns on Market probably isn't a good idea.

[SF Appeal]

Has Elmo shirt guy met his match? Tagging along with Alameda police during a pedestrian and driver safety campaign this week, local treasure Stanley Roberts came face-to-face with a lady who wasn't having any of it. After being ticket for failing to yield to people in a crosswalk while chatting on her cell phone, this driver went off on the "People Behaving Badly" watchdog. And then some.

Watch it again and again and again.

[via Lieberman]

Here we go again. A car hit a pedestrian in the South of Market neighborhood this morning, and then fled the scene. SF Appeal notes, "The hit-and-run collision was reported shortly before 11 a.m. at Seventh and Brannan."

The only description of the vehicle car is this: a "four-door vehicle" last seen zooming north on Seventh Street.

No word yet on the extent of the victim's injuries. We'll update as soon as we know more.

[SF Appeal]
[KRON]

Sad news. Over at 16th and Potrero near the Safeway shopping plaza, a man was struck and killed by a car Saturday night.

"The pedestrian, 62-year-old Han Cheng Li, was hit by a white van at about 11:35 p.m.," notes SF Appeal. "He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital with a major head injury and died several hours later."

Although the incident remains under investigation, the driver of the car, a man in his fifties, remained at the scene and cooperated with police.

[SF Appeal]

A 68-year-old Martinez man was crushed between two vehicles Friday afternoon on Pacific Street near Polk in San Francisco. He was loading or unloading a vehicle at the time, and a truck that was parked behind him suddenly accelerated, pinning him between the two vehicles in a grisly scene. He later died of his injuries at S.F. General.

The victim has been identified as Emitt Jackson, and he may have been working with the driver of the truck at the time of the incident. The driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with police, who are still investigating.

This all happened arond 3 p.m. on October 4. It remains unclear how or why the truck accelerated.

[BCN/Appeal]
[Vallejo Times-Herald]

Jennie Zhu, 58, was arrested on Saturday for allegedly killing a 16-year-old boy and injuring five others after crashing her Mercedes into the rear end of a minivan at Pine and Gough on Friday. After being booked on charged of "vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence," she posted $300,200 bail and was later released.

Zhu was reportedly careening of speeds up to 80 miles per hour as she was heading west on Pine shortly before hitting the minivan. She suffered only minor injuries. Alas, the same could not be said for the victims in the vehicle stopped at the light. The Chronicle reports: "The crash killed Lincoln High School junior Kevin San, who was in the minivan with his mother and sister, both of whom were seriously injured. Three people in the catering van were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries."

The crash took the life of Lincoln High School junior Kevin San, noted to be an avid cyclist. School Principal Barnaby Payne posted the following on the Lincoln High's website this morning:

I am sorry to inform you that Kevin San, a junior at Abraham Lincoln High School, was in a fatal car accident and died on Friday morning, September 27th.

Death can be extremely difficult, especially when it is sudden. We may experience many different feelings, such as shock, sadness, and confusion. I want you to know that we, the Lincoln staff, care about you and your feelings and that all of these feelings are completely normal.

Please know that we want to support you. I want to encourage those students who are very upset to meet with a Wellness staff or adult whom you trust. Wellness counselors will be available to meet with students in Room 143 throughout the week. They are here to talk with students about any feelings this may bring up.

The main floor display case will be honoring Kevin this week. There will also be a sympathy poster set up at lunchtime all week for students to share thoughts and well wishes for the family.

This difficult time can be stressful and confusing. We especially want you to know of our care and support. I am confident that the love of our school community will embrace Kevin’s family and his memory.

[Chron]
[SF Appeal]