There are many sources of Bay Area angst -- the high cost of housing, the high cost of living, homelessness, the threat of wildfires -- but traffic stands out as an especially sore spot. There’s just something about it that grinds on our nerves and makes all our other headaches even more difficult to deal with. And like those other challenges the traffic problem isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

On this edition of How to Bay Area, we speak to traffic experts of several stripes to find out how the traffic situation got so bad and what could be done to make it better.

We also provide practical advice on how you can use KCBS and other resources to shorten your drive time. And to close out the program we speak to a San Francisco-based stress expert to learn how we can all better cope with the mental strain that seems to be an all too common side effect of the Bay Area's punishing commutes. 

Hosts: KCBS Radio Reporters Keith Menconi and Jenna Lane.

Guests:

• KCBS Radio Traffic Reporters George Rask, John Atkinson, Kim Wonderley, Bob Pryor
• John Goodwin, transportation expert and a public information officer for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
• Jason Henderson, professor of geography at San Francisco State University studying the politics of urban transportation 
• Jonathan Horowitz, clinical psychologist and director of the Stress and Anxiety Center in San Francisco

Show Notes: 

You can find weekly traffic tips by checking out Bob Pryor's traffic blog on the KCBS Radio website. He'll clue you in to major events -- like parades, sports games, or large-scale construction -- that will be gumming up the ride so you'll know where not to drive during your commute and weekend excursions. 

Portions of this How to Bay Area podcast were broadcast on KCBS Radio's weekly interview program, In Depth.