The nationwide recession has provided a laboratory-style study of traffic congestion in America, which has dropped dramatically in 2009 according to INRIX, a traffic information provider based in Washington State. While the total number of vehicle miles traveled has reportedly dropped by only about two percent, the overall peak-hour congestion in the nation fell by 29% when compared to last year's highway overcrowding.
The largest declines - calculated using automobile-based GPS studies - have been seen in Atlanta (down 36%), the New York City metropolitan area (down 25%), and Los Angeles (down 24%). In Toledo, Ohio, rush-hour congestion was down by a reported 76%. A story on the subject in the Wall Street Journal explains that most highways in large metro areas are constantly at or beyond their capacity, and adding or subtracting a relatively small number of cars and trucks can have a pronounced effect on congestion. And with job losses concentrated in big city areas, the reduction in congestion has been quite noticeable, according to an ABC World News report this week.
Transit advocates have for years called attention to the fact that adding additional traffic lanes to highways actually increases congestion by attracting more users. According to the American Public Transit Association, transit ridership is at a 52-year high, and the notion that reducing the number of vehicles on the road is the preferred solution to congestion has seemingly been confirmed through the INRIX survey.
More information can be viewed on: http://www.inrix.com/
Read the full Wall Street Journal story at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124087948984561797.html
