Toiling In Traffic A Huge Waste

(AP)  A rush-hour driver in Los Angeles averages 136 hours a year sitting in traffic and those in San Francisco and Washington fare little better, says a private study that puts the national cost at $68 billion a year in wasted gas and time.

The Texas Transportation Institute annual study of 75 urban areas found that rush hours last longer and are more widespread. The average urban motorist in 2000 spent 62 hours sitting in traffic 2½ days — compared with 16 hours in 1982. And more than half the major roads in those 75 areas are crowded during rush hours, compared with just a third in 1982.

"The congested time is now lengthening and now incorporates more roads and more travel than in the past," said the report released Thursday. "Even the smaller areas are not able to keep pace with rising demand."

The institute, part of Texas A&M University, analyzed data from the Federal Highway Administration and 10 state highway departments. It ranked the areas according to the additional time it took motorists to drive during congested periods compared with the rest of the day.

The Census Bureau has also found longer commuting times. The bureau reported the average trip to work took 25.5 minutes in 2000, compared with 22.4 minutes in 1990.

"People are trading off the time in their cars for a number of other benefits — schools, low housing costs, shopping, parks, medical facilities," research engineer Tim Lomax said. "It seems like what people are trying to do is maximize their quality of life rather than try to minimize the time they spend in their cars."

The study found rush-hour drivers in Los Angeles spending the equivalent of more than three 40-hour work weeks sitting in traffic, while those in San Francisco and Washington spent more than two work weeks' worth of time in congestion.

The state of Washington dropped its support for the study, saying it does not reflect congestion-reducing improvements such as high-occupancy-vehicle lanes and ramp metering, where traffic lights control the flow of cars onto crowded expressways.

Lomax said the criticism was valid and that data will allow future studies to reflect the impact of those improvements on congestion.