Traffic Congestion: It's Getting Worse

Everyone says the same thing: "I don't have any time anymore." But is there any solution in sight?

by Les Jackson

The American public doesn't universally agree on many subjects, but everyone agrees that traffic is badly congested nearly everywhere in the U.S. Commuters are increasingly frustrated and anxious, an emotional condition that leads to road rage, tailgating and aggressive driving. Traffic congestion extends over longer periods of time each day, making it difficult to plan trips around known bottlenecks. Everyone says the same thing: "I don't have any time anymore." But is there any solution in sight?

Not really, but traffic planners are well aware of the problem. They note that congestion levels have steadily increased since 1982 and that those areas now classified as "medium-congestion" will, by 2013, have the same congestion as today's "heavy" areas. Very few additional highways are being planned due to budget and environmental challenges and existing roads and bridges are deteriorating. Less than half the roadway lanes needed to maintain a constant congestion level have been added since 1982.

Here are some disturbing facts:

• Areas with populations over 3 million will see minimum delays per traveler of 38 hours each year by 2013. Areas over 1 million will see delays of between 10 and 35 hours each year. Small areas (less than 500,000) will see delays of up to 25 hours each year.

• In 2003, the wasted time and fuel due to congestion cost the U.S. population $63.1 billion. This translates to nearly $800 per traveler and 2.3 billion gallons of fuel!

Most urban planners are studying a range of strategies including road widening, carpools and public transportation. None of these constitutes a single solution to the problem and it is doubtful that necessary gains can be made in either or all of these areas. For instance, to achieve a constant level of congestion 3 to 4 percent of all passenger vehicles on the road would have to become carpool vehicles. To accomplish the same effect through public transportation, existing transit systems would need to increase in size by one third. Neither of these is likely to happen. Major financial hurdles would have to be overcome to enlarge the public transportation system and significant cultural changes would be necessary to convince the public to dramatically increase carpooling.

While all this leads to a grim outlook, there are some ideas that are being pursued to cumulatively address the situation. The approaches currently seen as promising include: adding capacity; increasing the efficiency of the existing system; managing construction and maintenance; managing demand; and, alternatives to vehicle trips.

The last of these - delaying the time or avoiding the trip altogether - is the easiest and least expensive to accomplish. Many employers offer flexible work schedules to allow workers to arrive and leave outside of peak traffic periods. Still, others offer telecommuting options wherein employees can work from home by computer. There is significant reluctance on the part of employers to offer full-time telecommuting options, but over time these biases should change as systems to monitor activities arrive on the scene.

For those who must be at the office full-time there are some emerging "electronic" solutions for getting through traffic. Most metropolitan areas post the highways with signs indicating specific problems on a particular route and real-time traffic updates by tuning to AM radio stations. XM Satellite radio began offering real-time traffic updates on vehicle NAV systems last year. The technology shows where there are slowdowns on the individual's route, how much additional time the trip will take and any alternate routes to get around the tie-up. The program is offered in several major metropolitan areas and is expanding across the country.

Adding capacity is the historic "cure" for traffic congestion, but doing so by building additional roadways is fast becoming a non-option. Capacity can be added on existing roadways in other ways, however. This can be accomplished by squeezing more traffic lanes into existing space, grade separations, better intersection designs, overpasses and carpool lanes.