Think about this while you're stuck in rush-hour traffic on I-71 or I-75: It could be a lot worse. You could be in Los Angeles. Or Chicago. Or Detroit. Or Washington, D.C.

All those cities, and 44 others, fared worse than Cincinnati in a national survey to measure the ease of driving in U.S. cities. Survey guru Bert Sperling measured climate, road roughness, urban mobility and gas prices to come up with his index.

The result: Cincinnati is the 29th most "drivable" of the nation's 77 biggest cities - better than average, but not in the upper tier. (The America's Most Drivable Cities survey is at www.bestplaces.net.)

Almost every other city in our region was worse for driving: Pittsburgh, Columbus, Louisville, Indianapolis, Cleveland and St. Louis, in order of difficulty. Only Memphis and Nashville surpassed Cincinnati.

But we're spoiled here. We're used to the small-town luxury of getting where you want when you want, despite our area's recent explosion of suburban growth. Here, we complain about a commute that might take two or three times as long elsewhere.

If you want smooth, open roads, head for Texas, where the three most drivable cities are located: Corpus Christi (which got the top point score of 100), Brownsville and Beaumont. The most drivable of America's largest cities was Atlanta at No. 20.

California's fabulous climate didn't help its rankings. Los Angeles was dead last, edging out San Francisco for the honor. Some might say Cincinnati's relatively decent ranking argues against the need for better mass transit, smarter driving habits or more highways. Not true. Continued growth and road deterioration will make Cincinnati less "drivable" as time passes.

Besides, if you consider traffic congestion alone, rather than Sperling's menu, we're not doing very well. The Texas Transportation Institute's 2002 Urban Mobility Study, on which Sperling based his mobility scores, found Cincinnati to be the 24th most congested city out of 75 measured.

Congestion is costly. It wastes our time and resources. It adds pollution. It increases the possibility of accidents. That's why Metro's recent announcement that it could not offer reduced 50-cent bus fares this summer, because of a federal funding loss, is discouraging. We may be fairly "drivable" now, but Cincinnatians should remember that a transportation bottleneck lurks just down the road.