Traffic Getting Worse in U.S. Cities

It's not your imagination: traffic congestion and car commute times are getting worse, no matter what size city you live in, according to a new report from the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI).

TTI's "2007 Urban Mobility Report" finds that, as of 2005 (the last year for which complete data was available), traffic is growing heavier in all 437 of the country's urban areas, costing commuters a total of 4.2 billion lost hours and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted gasoline -- with a combined value of $78 billion -- each year. Compared to data from 2004, those figures represent an increase of 220 million more hours lost, 140 million more gallons of gas wasted and $5 billion more in expense.

For the average traveler, the 2005 numbers translate to 38 extra hours in traffic and 26 wasted gallons of gas, adding up to a cost of $710 annually. As the report's authors -- research engineer Tim Lomax and associate research engineer David Schrank -- put it, the time lost alone is enough for nearly five vacation days, 20 movies (minus previews) or more than 120 summertime sunburns.

Trends indicate that major improvements are urgently needed to address worsening traffic across the country, Lomax and Schrank conclude.

"The problem has grown too rapidly and is too complex for only one technology or service to be 'the solution' in most regions," they write. "Major improvements can take 10 to 15 years and smaller efforts may not satisfy all the needs. So we recommend a balanced and diversified approach to reduce congestion."

Lomax and Schrank recommend such steps as working faster to remove crashed or stalled vehicles from traffic, timing traffic signals more effectively, adding capacity -- whether street, freeway, rail line, buses or other systems -- in critical corridors, relieving chokepoints, creating alternative travel options or additional tolls for high-speed travel, and diversifying urban areas so more people live within walking distance to jobs and stores. They also urge employers to consider flexible work hours or telecommuting to relieve the need for travel at peak commute hours.

Finally, they remind government agencies, commuters and employers alike to stay realistic in their expectations.

"Large urban areas will be congested," Lomax and Schrank write in their report. "Some locations near key activity centers in smaller urban areas will also be congested. But congestion does not have to be an all-day event. Identifying solutions and funding sources that meet a variety of community goals is challenging enough without attempting to eliminate congestion in all locations."

Texas Transportation Institute, "Annual Study Shows Traffic Congestion Worsening in Cities Large and Small." URL: (http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/media_information/press_release.stm)