You might have lost your job and your home in the economic downturn, but at least you鈥檙e not spending as much time in traffic. The (TTI) at Texas A&M University released its annual today. While it might seem hard to believe to those stuck in traffic, TTI found that congestion is lower in Austin than it was five years ago.
In 2010, the average Austinite wasted 38 hours 鈥� almost an entire work week in traffic 鈥� according to TTI. In 2005, the number was 52 hours. Over the same period of time, AG真人百家乐 County's unemployment rate rose
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 one of the main conclusions of the study,鈥� TTI researcher Tim Lomax said. 鈥淚n an economic recession, congestion goes down.鈥�
Of course, other factors may be at play, such as a growth in public transit, more people living close to work, commuters opting to ride their bikes, and the construction of such as 183A and SH 45.
But nothing compares to those halcyon days in 1982, when Austin commuters wasted an average of just nine hours a year being stuck in traffic jams.
The 2010 numbers put mean Austin has the fifteenth worst commute nationwide. The three cities with the longest amount of time spent in congestion were metropolitan Washington, DC (74 hours/year), Chicago (71 hours/year), and Los Angeles/Long Beach/Santa Ana (64 hours/year).
