I think if it's annoying, you're not driving in traffic the right way. Sure, it's annoying for aggressive stop-and-go driving, but if you maintain a consistent speed with the traffic in front of you (see traffic shockwaves [0]), a manual transmission is better than an automatic.
> ... if you maintain a consistent speed with the traffic in front of you...
Good luck with that in CA. Whenever you ease off to anticipate a stop, you'll just get a bunch of jerks changing lanes in front of you to save a car-length or two.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suugn-p5C1M