On-Delay, On-Delay

When gas prices hit their peak – before the recession really kicked in (2007) – we actually experienced a reduction in congestion. When unemployment soared in 2008, again there was a respite from some of the traffic pressures that commuters had been subject to as fewer drivers were going to work (but oh, those interviews… OK, not so much). The analytics of traffic congestion are very central to the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M, and their 2010 Urban Mobility Report is crammed with data about past problems and future projections. For all those who drive to work, where rush hour is never that, the study has great relevance – like the little chart above which is self-explanatory. But as the U.S. economy sputters forward, the hidden cost may be a return to those thrilling days of yesteryear slow-commuting, perhaps with delays increasing beyond those halcyon days because of highways suffering from "deferred maintenance" that the stimulus grants have not yet addressed.

2009 saw a slow reversal of the traffic trends back to congestion realities. 2010 amplified that trend. The January 21^st AOL Autos summarizes the Texas A&M study:

- Congested roads cost our economy $115 billion in 2009, up from $24 billion in 1982 (when adjusted for inflation).

-Congested roads were responsible for wasting 3.9 billion gallons of fuel, which, according to TTI, is equal to 130 days of flow in the Alaska Pipeline.

-Congested roads cost the average commuter $808 in 2009, up from $351 in 1982 (when adjusted for inflation).

-The average commuter spent about 34 hours sitting idly in their car in 2009, nearly a day and a half.

The study also looked into the benefits of both public transportation and road construction and maintenance. It found that without public transportation "travelers would have suffered an additional 785 million hours of delay and consumed 640 million more gallons of fuel – a savings of $19 billion in congestion costs." Similarly, road construction and maintenance saved drivers "320 million hours of delay and 265 million gallons of fuel for a congestion cost savings of $8 billion."

Not to mention what a pain in the butt sitting in your car is like, particularly when you really need to be where you are going…. NOW! The study doesn't address the impact of sitting in a vehicle surrounded by toxic fumes and stressing about "being late." And while the report lets us all know that there are no simple, uniform solutions to the problems of traffic delays, everything has to be considered, from taking the controls away from drivers, increasing public transportation initiatives (in an economically impaired universe) and increase the cost for highway usage, directly or indirectly. And clearly, the numbers tell us that fixing our roads is a direct and immediate "pays-for-itself" blessing that we need to accept in our quest for how to create more jobs.

I'm Peter Dekom, and sometimes it's good to look that pain that courses through your life directly in its eyes in a complex stare-down that might not change anything, but hey, it's interesting.