Americans Wasted $87 billion from traffic jams

[Stevicus]

Traffic jams suck.

It turns out the worst cities for traffic in America were Boston, DC, and Chicago.

America's $87 billion traffic jam ranks Boston, DC and Chicago as the worst in US

Time is money, and a new report shows just how much time and money American's are wasting sitting in their cars and trucks.

The total last year was $87 billion, or $1,348 per driver, according to new data analyzed by research firm INRIX. Each year, INRIX issues a Global Traffic Scorecard based on millions of pieces of data from connected vehicles, departments of transportation, cellular positioning reports and a number of other sources.

But Boston was only #8 when measured against even more congested cities around the world:

"Old cities that did not develop around cars and driving have the worst congestion," said Reed.

Reed says cities in the U.S. are not the worst in the world when it comes to congestion. That dubious distinction goes to Moscow, Russia where INRIX says the average driver lost 210 hours to congestion last year. Rounding out the Global Traffic Scorecard list of the five worst cities in the world for congestion are Istanbul, Turkey; Bogota, Colombia; Mexico City, Mexico and Sao Paulo, Brazil. INRIX ranked Boston #8, the only U.S. city in the report's top ten for bad traffic worldwide.

So, I guess the problem is that we need to get people to drive less - or build more roads to accommodate the extra traffic. Or perhaps better mass transit systems.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

I say increase public transit. Create fast high rail systems where we can go from A to Z in less time. Considering the population in the world is increasing roads will get smaller and smaller. Move more people in less time means less people on the roads. Go clean!

 

[Father Heathen]

More bikes and public transit like the rest of the developed world.

 

[HonestJoe]

So, I guess the problem is that we need to get people to drive less - or build more roads to accommodate the extra traffic. Or perhaps better mass transit systems.

It’s not an “or”, all of those things can contribute to improving the problem, though I doubt it will ever be entirely resolved. This is one of those issues that can benefit from lots of little changes by individuals and small groups. Every car share, bus trip, decision to walk, schedule adjustment etc. contributes but it can difficult for people to do those things when others aren’t (sometimes to their advantage) and the benefits aren’t immediately apparent.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

More bikes and public transit like the rest of the developed world.

Copenhagen is an interesting example of bike transport in a Western city.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

My city ranks 17th. Makes sense...Melbourne traffic sucks.

 

[Twilight Hue]

More bikes and public transit like the rest of the developed world.

I think more people would use bicycles and such if only the infrastructure was there.

If you could have roads for bicycles just as much as there are roads for cars, I think it would be a great mix.

 

[Shad]

Voted public development and other. Development of better public systems and rail systems (Wash/Bos corridor) will reduce the need for people to drive. 2 birds, 1 stone. High-speed rail need not be publicly run so falls under both public and other. Other also covers alternative building development to reduce the urban and suburban sprawl.

 

[Revoltingest]

Once again, I'm the only one who wants to raise fuel taxes.
I'd also add that we need safer roads for bicycles....& now
electric scooters. It's extremely dangerous to commute
by road when surrounded by speeding behemoths.

Flying cars are ridiculous. People are just to careless to
responsibly pilot & maintain such complex vehicles.

 

[Nous]

The article doesn't explain how this study was conducted, so I just want to point out that Boston-proper consists of only a few acres, and the streets still follow the original layout from the 15th century. I don't know of anyone who would or does routinely drive their own car into Boston or the immediately surrounding cities. Depending on what counts as "Boston" in this study, I assure you the number of cars involved in traffic jams cannot possibly compare to jams in Chicago, LA, DC, NYC, et al.

There is, of course, a fair degree of science on how to move people and products around most efficiently in cities. Each city presents its own unique challenges, of course. Once the average citizen is able to print his/her own food and other necessities, people will be hanging around in their homes even more than now.