Traffic Congestion Worsens

The “2007 Urban Mobility Report,” a study by the Texas Transportation Institute, says
Americans spent 4.2 billion hours stuck in traffic in 2005, equivalent to an average of
around 38 hours per driver. That caused drivers to buy an extra 2.9 billion gallons of
fuel. The study estimates that including lost time, traffic delays cost the nation $78.2
billion, $5 billion more than in 2004. In just one year, motorists spent 220 million more
hours idling and wasted an additional 140 million gallons of fuel. Los Angeles had the
worst congestion, delaying drivers an average of 72 hours last year and wasting 57 gallons
of fuel, followed by Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Dallas. Traffic jams cost
the average driver about $710 in 2005, compared with an inflation-adjusted $260 back in
1982. The report was based on 2005 figures, the most recent year for which complete data
was available. For more information: http://mobility.tamu.edu