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Table 17
Roadway Delay and Congestion Cost Per Person in Urban Areas: 1991 and 2001

Annual Roadway Delay Per Person
(Hours per year)

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  1991 delay per person 2001 delay per person Percentage change 1991–2001 Annual growth rate 1991–2001
Very large areas 24 32 36 3.1
Large areas 12 22 75 5.8
Medium areas 7 14 109 7.6
Small areas 4 7 76 5.8
75-area average 17 26 53 4.3

 

Annual Roadway Congestion Cost per Person
(Current dollars)

  1991 cost per person 2001 cost per person Percentage change 1991–2001 Annual growth rate 1991–2001
Very large areas 342 646 89 6.6
Large areas 181 449 148 9.5
Medium areas 99 290 193 11.3
Small areas 56 132 136 9.0
75-area average 250 517 107 7.5

Key: Very large = over 3 million population (e.g., New York-Northern NJ).
Large = 1 million–3 million population (e.g., Atlanta).
Medium = selected areas with 500,000–1 million population (e.g., Memphis).
Small = selected areas under 500,000 population (e.g., Colorado Springs).

Notes: TTI estimates delay indireclty by using traffic volumes and methodology developed by the Federal Highway Administration for estimating the effects of roadway incidents.

TTI estimates cost by taking into account fuel cost, value of time, and commercial vehicle operating cost.

Source: Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), 2003 Urban Mobility Report, "Base Statistics for the 75 Urban Areas" spreadsheet, available at: http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/mobility_data; and personal communication, October 2003.