30 Percent Decrease in US Peak Time Traffic Jams

[RobBrady]

A study that ranks the one hundred worst congested US cities reports unprecedented decline in US traffic congestion. Since 2006, INRIX Traffic Services has collected tens of billions of “GPS-enabled probe vehicle” reports from taxis, airport shuttles, service delivery vans, long haul trucks and consumer vehicles. Its annual National Traffic Scorecard was released yesterday revealing a 30 percent decline in peak period traffic congestion on the US''s major urban roads.

INRIX aggregate traffic-related information from hundreds of public and private sources, including traditional road sensors and the company’s network of almost a million GPS-enabled vehicles and cellular probes. It provides real-time, historical and predictive traffic information in North America and Europe to partners within the SatNav industry including TomTom, TeleNav, Tele Atlas, deCarta, Mio and Navigon.

One would think that some reduction might be attributed to the proliferation of traffic applications available that now help motorists skirt around congestion problems, but it was only fuel prices and a struggling economy that were cited by INRIX as the reasons.

The report claims...

* 99 of the top 100 most populated cities in the U.S. experienced decreases in traffic congestion levels in 2008 as compared to the prior year.

* Detroit, where the jobless rate climbed past 21 percent in 2008, saw the second largest decrease in congestion nationwide.

* San Diego saw the second largest decrease in congestion (tied with Detroit)

* Riverside, California, which ranked third-highest in the nation in foreclosure activity during 2008, saw the highest drop in congestion of the nation’s larger regions.

* On average, Americans spent 13 hours less stuck in traffic in 2008 versus 2007

The top 10 most congested US cities in 2008 were:

1. Los Angeles, California

2. New York, New York

3. Chicago, Illinois

4. Dallas, Texas

5. Washington, DC

6. Houston, Texas

7. San Francisco, California

8. Boston, Massachusetts

9. Seattle, Washington

10. Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bryan Mistele, INRIX president and CEO says “While less traffic is generally good news, the causes of it aren’t necessarily something to celebrate. Traffic congestion is an excellent indicator of trends, telling us whether businesses are shipping products, whether people are going to work, and whether shoppers are going to the mall. The Scorecard provides an amazing lens through which we can see these and other major events unfolding across the country.”

It''ll be interesting to see the overall effect of SatNav traffic applications on our roads over the next few years. If traffic levels rise again to mirror a recovering economy, we can only speculate on the level of impact they will have on further reducing our cities'' jams.
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Robert Brady

[gatorguy6996]

As an aside, this would certainly impact the effectiveness of IQRoutes data, especially in previously congested metro areas. There may be times that turning IQRoutes off may result in a faster actual drive time.
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Garmin 1695 / 255 / 760 w/MSN - Droid w/Google nav + Navigon - Navigon 8100T - Dakota10 - GPSMap76C - GeoMate Jr.

[Kar98]

[gatorguy6996]

IQR2 uses historical (past) travel speed on particular sections of road at certain times of the day. Assume IQR assumes an average travel speed of only 22mph on Road A (posted at 55mph) at 4:45 based on last years driving patterns, instead sending you on road B (posted at 35), saving you 3 minutes on the estimated travel time, even tho Road A would appear to be the much faster and direct route. But now with the economic downturn resulting in fewer commercial and private vehicle drivers and more closed businesses, the speeds on Road A are now averaging 44 mph at 4:45. Taking road A might result in a much shorter actual drive time. I don't know how current IQR data is, but certainly at least 4 months old minimum, perhaps much older. Same scenario would happen with a highway under construction for 18 months. The IRQ data will be inaccurate for that highway for sometime after the construction is complete.
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Garmin 1695 / 255 / 760 w/MSN - Droid w/Google nav + Navigon - Navigon 8100T - Dakota10 - GPSMap76C - GeoMate Jr.

[gatorguy6996]

Just a couple of other points from the report that I found interesting:

Friday from 5 to 6 p.m. remained America's most congested hour of the week, although the Travel Time Index (TTI) fell 23 percent. Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. ranked as the next most congested hour.

Wednesday saw the biggest drop in congestion, with a 31 percent overall decrease in peak hours.
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Garmin 1695 / 255 / 760 w/MSN - Droid w/Google nav + Navigon - Navigon 8100T - Dakota10 - GPSMap76C - GeoMate Jr.

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