Most Congested Cities

Traffic delays will increase 65 percent and the number of congested lane-miles on urban roads will rise by 50 percent over the next 25 years, according to a new Reason study.

2 minute read

September 1, 2006, 7:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

Los Angeles, home to the nation's worst traffic today, will continue to have the longest delays, with trips during peak hours taking nearly twice as long as they do when roads are free-flowing. But LA won't be alone. Several cities face the dubious honor of having Los Angeles-like gridlock.

By 2030, drivers in 11 metro areas â€" Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Portland, San Francisco-Oakland, Seattle-Tacoma, and Washington, D.C. - will be stuck in daily traffic jams that are as bad as or worse than today's infamous bottlenecks in Los Angeles, according to a new Reason Foundation study. In those cities it will take at least 75 percent longer to make a trip during peak hours than off-peak periods. So, for example, a trip that is supposed to take 30 minutes would take over 52 minutes.

Today, only four cities (LA, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.) experience travel time delays of even 50 percent. But, because road capacity is failing to keep up with demand and population growth, the Reason study finds that a whopping 30 cities will be experiencing daily delays that make rush hour trips 50 percent longer than off-peak journeys. Los Angeles and the other 11 cities listed above will be joined in congestion purgatory by Austin, Boston, Bridgeport-Stamford (CT), Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, New York City-Newark (NJ), Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix-Mesa, Riverside-San Bernardino, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Jose, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and Tucson.

The full study, with in-depth analysis of long-term traffic congestion levels and the road capacity needs in every state and over 400 U.S. cities, are available as PDF documents.

Cities With 2030 Travel Time Delays Worse Than Today's Los Angeles

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach
2. Chicago
3. Washington
4. San Francisco-Oakland
5. Atlanta
6. Miami
7. Denver-Aurora
8. Seattle-Tacoma, WA
9. Las Vegas

FULL STORY: Building Roads to Reduce Traffic Congestion in America's Cities: How Much and at What Cost?

Thursday, August 31, 2006 in

Transportation United States

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