NYC traffic isn't that bad, if you consider that it is the largest city in the nation and 2nd in the world (behind Tokyo, last time I knew, it coud have changed). The whole hub-and-spoke model works quite well with the commuter trains and whatnot. I don't even know if they are in the top ten for commute times in the US.
The worst IMO is DC, any time I have to drive near/through DC travveling to points south I always make sure I go through there between 12 and 6am.
The correlation really seems to be:
"New" cities with poor designs, lots of suburbs and few public transit seem to fair the worst.
