Study finds traffic congestion bad and getting worse
From USAToday: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation...-highways_x.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) — If it seems like more of your time is spent stuck in traffic, you may be right. In cities large and small, the daily struggle with bumper-to-bumper traffic is getting worse.
The average rush-hour driver wasted almost two full days — about 51 hours — sitting in traffic in 2001, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University. That's an increase of four hours in the last five years.
The price tag: $69.5 billion in wasted time and gas, said the study, which looked at 75 urban areas.
In response to criticism about its earlier studies, the institute for the first time factored in improvements that cities are making, such as traffic light coordination and ramp metering, as well as the benefits of public transportation, Lomax said.
Data from the Federal Highway Administration and information from various state and local agencies was analyzed by the researchers to come up with the rankings.
From USAToday: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation...-highways_x.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) — If it seems like more of your time is spent stuck in traffic, you may be right. In cities large and small, the daily struggle with bumper-to-bumper traffic is getting worse.
The average rush-hour driver wasted almost two full days — about 51 hours — sitting in traffic in 2001, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University. That's an increase of four hours in the last five years.
The price tag: $69.5 billion in wasted time and gas, said the study, which looked at 75 urban areas.
In response to criticism about its earlier studies, the institute for the first time factored in improvements that cities are making, such as traffic light coordination and ramp metering, as well as the benefits of public transportation, Lomax said.
Data from the Federal Highway Administration and information from various state and local agencies was analyzed by the researchers to come up with the rankings.
