From: "Friends of Transit" To: Subject: Phoenix is in the top 10 worst rush hour traffic congestion Date: Sunday, July 28, 2002 8:15 PM Below is a copy of an article that ran in Passenger Transport Magazine. Not surprisingly to most of us, you will note that Phoenix is in the top 10 worst rush hour traffic congestion. (Article reprinted from the July 1, 2002, issue of Passenger Transport) Report Shows Increasing Road Congestion, Longer Rush Hours In its 19th annual Urban Mobility Report, the Texas Transportation Institute lists three signs of increasing urban congestion: more congested streets and freeways; a greater time penalty for traveling during rush hour; and a longer period of time that travelers are likely to encounter traffic congestion. The TTI study states that roadway congestion cost $67.5 billion in 2000, or the value of 3.6 billion hours of delays and 5.7 billion gallons of excess fuel consumed in the 75 urban areas studied. To reduce this cost, authors Tim Lomax and David Schrank suggest a variety of strategies and investments that will be needed, including more public transportation. According to TTI, the 10 cities with the worst rush-hour congestion are, in order, Los Angeles; San Francisco-Oakland; Washington, D.C., and surrounding suburbs; San Jose, Calif.; Atlanta; San Diego; Chicago and northwestern Indiana; Boston; Miami-Hialeah, Fla.; and Phoenix. "If public transportation were available throughout the country, more people would have better choices than simply sitting in traffic," said APTA President William W. Millar. "Despite only one in four American households having access to satisfactory public transportation services, ridership has grown by over 22 percent in the last six years." The report introduces a new term--"delay per peak period traveler"--to better illustrate the plight faced by those who use major roadways during "rush hours." The new gauge replaces "delay per capita" as the primary delay measure used in recent years. Lomax and Schrank said the new measure provides a more relevant illustration of the extra time spent traveling when roadway demand is at its highest. This new measure was made possible this year by a more thorough and comprehensive database of roadway and travel information drawn from several sources, as well as ongoing refinements in the annual study's methodology. Among the figures listed in the report: . the time penalty for peak period travelers has jumped from 16 hours per year in 1982, the first year the study was conducted by TTI, to 62 hours in 2000; . the period of time when travelers might experience congestion has increased from 4.5 hours in 1982 to seven hours in 2000; and . the volume of roadways where travel is congested has grown from 34 percent in 1982 to 58 percent in 2000. Millar noted that the study deals only with roadway congestion, and encouraged TTI to expand its study in the future to measure a more complete picture of mobility in urban areas across America. He called for the incorporation of data measuring the impact of public transportation, bicycle, and pedestrian usage in future studies, thus leading to a broader understanding of how people travel rather than just looking at motor vehicle congestion. This would give communities better information when they make local transportation decisions, Millar explained. The Urban Mobility Report is produced by TTI, a member of the Texas A&M University System, and funded by a consortium of 10 state transportation agency sponsors. In contrast to past years, the Surface Transportation Policy Project announced that it would not issue a companion analysis to the 2002 TTI report because it has doubts about the validity of the data in accurately measuring congestion and accounting for investments to combat it. STPP cited a statement released by Washington State DOT, which withdrew its financial support from the TTI project, saying the report's data is not meaningful because it relies on estimates based on mathematical models rather than any real speed or congestion data.