Congestion rankings make news, but what do they really mean? Very little for most residents, Transportation for America, February 7, 2013

This article attempts to point out fallacies or errors in the Texas Transportation Institute's (TTI's) calculation of congestion in America's major cities, a calculation that gives Washington the dubious distinction of being the worst in the country. 

There appear to be two arguments at work here that try to undercut the TTI assessment:

• While the delays in two major metro areas may be about the same (see Atlanta and Chicago below), one can have a much shorter commute time because of short distances traveled.  OK, but that's not what TTI is measuring; it's measuring the delays due to congestion.

• More people are not using autos to travel to/from work--more transit, walking, and biking--and they are not experiencing delays.  Apparently, these people haven't ridden Metro or been stuck on a bus in the same traffic autos are facing.  Also, while more people may using transit, etc, more people are apparently also using the roads, adding to congestion.  And in our area, forecasts call for only a one percent shift away from our current 83% use of autos in the next 30 years while population and jobs grow by close to 30%--and that will add to commuting traffic congestion absent road investments we probably can't afford.  Finally, the TTI report is about delays in congested roadway commutes; it is not about how long it takes people to get to work.

No doubt some of the problem goes beyond the report itself to press accounts of the TTI report that make a more generalized statement about commuting congestion.

Anyway, everyone ought to read this article for this alternative perspective on congestion and commuting.  Here are a couple of snippets:

. . .  Chicago commuters had an average travel time of almost twenty minutes less than their counterparts in Atlanta. In Chicago, the average peak period travel time is 35.6 minutes – 38 percent less than the 57.4 minutes in Atlanta. A major reason for the better highway performance in Chicago is that drivers do not have to travel as far as drivers in Atlanta – 13.5 miles compared with 21.6 miles.

 

. . . The Washington, D.C. and Denver metro areas are two that have seen their congestion rankings remain stubbornly high. In truth, though, both places have seen pay-off from actions that are expanding the share of homes in walkable neighborhoods with access to good public transportation and other options. As a result, commute distances are dropping. More people are living closer to work, more are walking, biking or taking transit to work. They are avoiding peak-hour traffic altogether – or spending less time driving because jobs and shopping is closer together. That’s making life better for them – they report enjoying their commutes more than freeway travelers – and it’s taking the pressure off the overcrowded freeways.

 Click here to read the full article.