I convinced my husband to try surface roads during peak times in Houston - he has learned back roads and shortcuts and routinely beats others to locations because of their insistance on using the “parking lot” freeways.....
As a forty-year freeway commuter in LA, #1 on the list, the strategy I developed has always been effective: stay with the freeway until hitting real congestion, then get off onto surface streets, checking back on the freeway occasionally.