New Urban Mobility Report - We're #1 (and that's not a good thing)!

[bobco85]

I just saw the newly released 2012 Urban Mobility Report (released by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute using INRIX traffic data), and the Washington DC metropolitan area seems to be at the top (worst) spot for many of the categories.

Here's a link to where you can download the report: http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/report/

From looking at it initially, here are some quick facts about our area (with our ranking out of 15 major metropolitan areas of the country):

Yearly delay per auto commuter: 67 hours (#1)
Increase in yearly delay per auto commuter from 1982-2011: 49 hours (#1)
Excess fuel consumed due to congestion per auto commuter: 32 gallons (#1)
Congestion cost per auto commuter: $1,398 (#1)
Congestion cost savings from public transportation: $711.0 million (#5)
Pounds of CO2 produced during free-flow traffic: 29.916 billion (#9)
Extra pounds of CO2 produced during congestion: 1.703 billion (#5)

Missing was the cost savings for cycling, but this report gives some food for thought when dealing with our transportation problems.

[pfunkallstar]

Depressing statistics all around. The solution, at least from where I sit seems pretty simplistic: develop incentives for carpooling (how man single occupant cars do you see on Memorial bridge every morning?), "fix" Metro (actually management, real train control system), and subsidize alternative transport options instead of creating 8-lane roads.

That or jetpacks.

[Dirt]

We should go for a bike ride!

[fuzzy]

What I try not to think about is what severity of lung cancer I'll get from biking around all the pollution.

[pfunkallstar]

I can probably crank out about 12 of these things in a week - Astronaut paceline FTW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=p9VEj-cmb6w

[Vicegrip]

I can whip up a true air filter that will not only take the particulates but also pulls many gasses and solvent fumes that the electrostatic system does not touch. Light simple and way less system energy used than an ES based filter.

Much rather make a set of jetpacks. Worthless but d00d we are talking Roger Ramjet rockets an' stuff.

Not all that suprised that the wash area is the worst. I moved here in 1968 and remember folks saying that the beltway and dulles airport were both boondogles that would see little use.

[Dirt]

I moved here in 1968 and remember folks saying that the beltway and dulles airport were both boondogles that would see little use.

I'd love to use a lot of the newspaper commentary from that time as a basis to submit a permit request to close down the beltway or Dulles Airport for a day to hold a bicycle race. I used to get a little thrill by riding on Whitehurst Freeway and GW Parkway during BikeDC. Imagine how cool it would be to have a Outer Loop Circuit race and an Inner Loop TT? How about a Bike MS Tour de Runway?

Sorry to get off topic. Traffic isn't much fun around here. On the rare occasions that I drive, I understand how depressing it can be for folks who have to do that every day.