"Things are bad and they're getting worse"

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What cost $78.2 Billion Dollars (in 2005), took 4.2 Billion Hours and wasted 2.9 Billion Gallons of gasoline?

Traffic congestion, that's what . . . according to the Texas Traffic Institute’s "2007 Urban Mobility Report" released this week.

"Things are bad and they're getting worse," says Alan Pisarski, a transportation expert and the author of "Commuting in America."

On the way to finding one of those 11 parking stalls per family (see last week's posting here), average driver in 437 U.S. urban areas (and all of his/her passengers) spent 38 hours locked up in traffic congestion. This wasted 26 gallons of gasoline, and cost $710. By comparison, in 1982 the average annual delay was 14 hours, consumed 9 gallons of gasoline and cot $260 (in constant 2005 dollars.)

Here's a list of cities where the institute found the worst traffic jams, along with the number of hours in a year drivers spent stuck behind the wheel:

Large Cities

Los Angles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, 72 hours
San Francisco-Oakland, 60
Washington, DC-VA-MD, 60
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, 58
Houston, 56
Detroit, 54
Miami, 50
Phoenix, 48
Chicago, 46
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT, 46
Boston, 46
Seattle, 45
Philadelphia, NJ-DE_MD, 38

Medium Cities

San Diego, 57 hours
San Jose, Calif., 54
Orlando, Fla., 54
Denver-Aurora, Colo., 50
Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., 49
Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., 45
Baltimore, Md., 44
Minneapolis, St. Paul, 43
Indianapolis, Ind, 43
Sacramento, Calif., 41
Las Vegas, 39
San Antonio, Texas., 39
Portland, Ore., 38
Columbus, Ohio, 33
St. Louis, 33

But, what about Omaha? What about our "20 minute city?" According to the study, the average driver in Omaha wasted 25 hours in traffic congestion and in doing so, wasted 15 gallons of fuel. What if you add all that up? In Omaha alone, the study's authors conclude, in 2005 we collectively wasted 8,784,000 hours and 5,344,000 million gallons of gas for a combined "all in cost" of $154,000,000. What was YOUR share?

To check out the study, go here: http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/mobility_report_2007.pdf

So while you are stuck in traffic on your quest for your next parking stall, just think about it for a bit, and consider the benefits of the walkable, mixed use residential neighborhood.

Herb

Source: "2007 Urban Mobility Report," Texas Transportation Institute (09/2007)