Heavy traffic congestion in Los Angeles, highlighting findings from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute's Urban Mobility Report on the high costs of traffic gridlock.
The 2019 Urban Mobility Report, a flagship publication by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, meticulously details the mounting challenges of urban transportation. Researchers at TTI emphasize that there isn’t a singular magic bullet to solve this multifaceted problem. Instead, their findings consistently point towards a blend of solutions: expanding road infrastructure, improving public transportation, maximizing the efficiency of existing transportation networks, and implementing demand-management strategies such as telecommuting, flexible work hours, and smarter urban planning.
“There’s no one answer to congestion, it’s a really complex issue,” notes Tim Lomax, a leading report author and Regents Fellow at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. “What we need to have is better conversations at the local level, the state level, and the national level, about what all our options are. We know a lot of things that work, we just need to figure out what the right solution is for each problem, and then how are we going to pay for it.” The report underscores the necessity of informed, data-driven discussions to address this growing crisis effectively.
Interactive map from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute's 2019 Urban Mobility Report showing nationwide traffic congestion levels and data.The data from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute reveals a concerning trend. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, the U.S. economy added 1.9 million jobs. While this growth is slightly less than the preceding years, it’s substantial enough to exacerbate the nation’s already strained transportation systems. TTI’s comprehensive congestion data, stretching back to 1982, paints a clear picture of this escalation. Since then, coinciding with a 50% increase in U.S. jobs to a current total of 153 million:
- The hours each commuter loses annually to traffic delays have nearly tripled, reaching an average of 54 hours.
- The individual financial cost of this lost time has almost doubled to $1,010 per year for each commuter.
- The total national cost of traffic gridlock has exploded more than tenfold, soaring to a staggering $166 billion annually.
- Fuel wasted due to idling in traffic has more than tripled, now reaching 3.3 billion gallons every year.
To provide a clearer understanding of the issue, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute has created a nationwide interactive map of congestion conditions. Furthermore, their “How to Fix Congestion” guide offers numerous strategies to combat roadway gridlock.
Marc Williams, Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Department of Transportation, which provided funding for the TTI research, emphasizes the critical importance of strategic investment in transportation infrastructure. “The value of investing in our nation’s transportation infrastructure in a strategic and effective manner cannot be overstated as these added costs impact our national productivity, quality of life, economic efficiency and global competitiveness,” he stated. Notably, even the economic recession of 2008-2009 only offered a temporary respite in traffic congestion growth, which quickly rebounded, outpacing job recovery.
This persistent congestion has a tangible impact on daily life. The report highlights that the average freeway traveler now needs to budget almost double the expected travel time to ensure timely arrival for crucial commitments, from medical appointments to picking up children or catching flights. A trip that might take 20 minutes in light traffic now realistically requires 34 minutes to account for potential delays.
Complex freeway interchange in Houston, Texas, an example of urban areas studied in the Texas A&M Transportation Institute's research on mobility and traffic challenges.
“Those minutes don’t sound like much, but they add up quickly over a year,” explains David Schrank, a senior research scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and co-author of the report. “Eventually, we’re talking billions of wasted hours, and the cost of delay at that scale is just enormous.” The core issue is that travel demand is outpacing the capacity of the existing transportation infrastructure. No longer confined to major metropolitan areas, traffic gridlock is now a pervasive problem affecting urban centers of all sizes, extending rush hour far beyond its traditional timeframe.
Bill Eisele, another report author and senior research engineer at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, points out that the impact extends beyond individual commuters. “The problem affects not only commuters, but also manufacturers and shippers whose travel delay costs are passed on to consumers,” he says. While trucks constitute a relatively small portion of overall traffic (around 7%), they contribute disproportionately to congestion costs (12%).
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute researchers stress the urgency of developing and implementing concrete strategies for each urban travel corridor. Given that major transportation projects and funding initiatives can take a decade or more to materialize, proactive planning and consensus-building are crucial. They suggest that a balanced and diverse approach, focusing on a combination of solutions tailored to specific contexts, is the most effective path forward.
The 2019 Urban Mobility Report, a vital resource for understanding and addressing traffic congestion, analyzes conditions in 494 urban areas across the United States and Puerto Rico. This research was supported by INRIX, a leading provider of transportation data and analytics, highlighting the collaborative effort to tackle this national challenge.
