San Jose Traffic Doubles; Worst Increase In Country

California drivers spend 62 hours in traffic per year -- and it may be getting worse.

San Jose saw the biggest jump in traffic congestion of any city in the United States over the past year, according to reports.

Regular traffic jams throughout the South Bay are doubling drives and making San Jose the country's fifth-most congested city, up from 13th-most congested in 2010, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

MORE: Bay Area Traffic Map

An improving economy is putting more drivers behind the wheel to go to work -- and in San Jose, they have no choice but to drive, according to transit experts -- and it's also putting more big rig trucks out on the roads to haul goods, according to the newspaper.

Honolulu, Hawaii, is still the country's most-congested city, followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco-Oakland (considered one city for traffic purposes) and then San Jose, the newspaper reported.

Drivers quoted by the newspaper reported driving four miles in 35 minutes -- and considering it good -- and seeing regular evening rituals of hourslong slogs.

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Even the experts marvel at San Jose's rapid rise.

"That's incredible, to have such a huge increase so quickly," said Jamie Holter of Inrix, the firm which crunched the numbers and quantified the time spent in traffic jams.

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