Facts & Statistics

traffic jam

Congestion on our roads is growing. Vehicle miles of travel are growing at a greater rate than miles of roadway:

Between 1985 and 2006, vehicle miles traveled increased by nearly 100 percent, while highway lane miles only increased 5 percent during the same period. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Our Nation's Highways 2008, Publication No. FHWA-PL-08-021 Washington D.C., 2008.)
Between 1982 and 2005, the percentage of peak period travel that is congestion grew from 29 percent to 63 percent. (Shrank, D.L., Lomax, T.J., The 2007 Urban Mobility Report, Texas Transportation Institute, September 2007.)
Between 1982 and 2005, the percentage of the major road system that is congested grew from 29 percent to 48 percent. (Shrank, D.L., Lomax, T.J., The 2007 Urban Mobility Report, Texas Transportation Institute, September 2007.)

Work zone activity is significant:

An average of 23,745 miles of roadway had federal aid roadway improvement projects underway per year from 1997 to 2001. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2001, Publication No. FHWA-PL-02-020. Washington D.C., 2001.)
An estimated 3,110 work zones were present on the National Highway System (NHS) during the peak summer roadwork season of 2001. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, A Snapshot of Peak Summer Work Zone Activity Reported on State Road Closure and Construction Websites. Washington, D.C., August 2002.)

Work zone activity is increasing. Many of our highways are approaching middle age and need repair, which means more work zones:

Much of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways is more than 30 years old. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, "Work Zones That Work," Public Roads, November/December 2004.)
Obligations of federal funds for roadway projects increased by $2.86 billion on average per year between the years 1997 to 2001. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2001, Publication No. FHWA-PL-02-020. Washington D.C., 2001.)
Between 1980 and 2000, capital spending on highways increased 112 percent and maintenance spending increased by 14 percent, after adjusting for inflation. (Consdorf, Arnie, "The Decade Mobility Died, America's Congestion Crisis, Parts I - III," Better Roads, February 2003.)

The majority of road work takes place on existing roads already carrying traffic:

In the year 2004, 79 percent of highway capital expenditures were allocated to system preservation (51.8 percent), expansion (18.3 percent), and enhancement (9 percent), all improvements that involve active work zones on existing roads with traffic present. (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2006 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions & Performance, Report to Congress. Washington, D.C., 2006.)
In the year 2001, of the 24,606 miles of federal aid roadway projects underway, 85 percent of the miles were for system preservation projects, 12 percent for capacity additions, and 3 percent for new routes. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2001. Publication No. FHWA-PL-02-020. Washington, D.C., 2001.)

Work zones cause delay, often on already congested roads:

Work zones on freeways are estimated to account for nearly 24 percent of non-recurring delay. A combination of recent studies indicate that approximately 50 percent of all highway congestion is attributed to non-recurring conditions, such as traffic incidents, weather, work zones, and special events. (U.S. Department of Energy, Temporary Losses of Highway Capacity and Impacts on Performance, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL/TM-2002/3). May 2002.)
Greater than 60 million vehicles per hour per day of capacity were estimated to be lost due to work zones over a two week period during the peak summer roadwork season in 2001. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, A Snapshot of Peak Summer Work Zone Activity Reported on State Road Closure and Construction Websites. Washington, D.C., August 2002.)

Motorists and workers are increasingly exposed to work zones:

A growing portion of capital expenditures is being spent on preserving existing roads and bridges. Between 1997 and 2004, the share of capital funds used for system preservation rose from 47.6 percent to 51.8 percent ($36.4 billion). (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2006 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions & Performance, Report to Congress. Washington, DC, 2007.)
More than 12 billion vehicle miles of travel are estimated to have been through active contract work zones (i.e. roadwork performed by private contractors) during the year 2001. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Characteristics of Today's Work Zones, presentation at TRB Annual Meeting by Gerald Ullman (Texas Transportation Institute) on preliminary study results. Washington, D.C., January 2004.)
Motorists encountered an active work zone one out of every 100 miles driven on the NHS, representing over 12 billion hours of vehicle exposure to work zones during 2001. Motorists experienced a lane closure every 200 miles driven on the NHS in 2001, representing slightly more than 6 billion miles of vehicle travel through work zones nationally. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Characteristics of Today's Work Zones, presentation at TRB Annual Meeting by Gerald Ullman (Texas Transportation Institute) on preliminary study results. Washington, D.C., January 2004.)
Highway workers spent 246.4 million hours working on the NHS during the year 2001. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Characteristics of Today's Work Zones, presentation at TRB Annual Meeting by Gerald Ullman (Texas Transportation Institute) on preliminary study results. Washington, D.C., January 2004.)

Work zone safety continues to be a concern:

In 2007, 835 fatalities resulted from motor vehicle crashes in work zones. This is a 17 percent decrease from 2006 (1,004 fatalities) and a 22 percent decrease from 2005 (1,074 fatalities). (National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse Work Zone Fatalities, http://www.workzonesafety.org/taxonomy/term/23, based on information from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).)
In 2007 there were 105 fatal occupational injuries at road construction sites. This is a 24 percent decrease from 2006 (139 fatal occupational injuries) and a 36 percent decrease from 2005 (165 fatal occupational injuries). (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, http://www.workzonesafety.org/files/documents/crash_data/worker_fatalities_2003-2007.pdf (PDF 31KB), 2008)
More than 41,000 people were injured in 2003 as a result of motor vehicle crashes in work zones. This has grown from 36,000 in 1996, an increase of 14 percent. (U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, General Estimates System. Washington D.C., 2002.)

Road users are frustrated with work zones:

A survey done in 2000 for FHWA identified several issues the public has with work zones:
- 32 percent of the respondents indicted dissatisfaction with work zones, the second highest rate of dissatisfaction among the attributes of major highways. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Moving Ahead: The American Public Speaks on Roadways and Transportation Communities. FHWA-OP-01-017. Washington, D.C., 2001.)
- The top three transportation improvements cited by the public to overcome travel delay problems all relate to how roadwork is done: (1) more durable paving materials; (2) repairs during non-rush hours; and (3) reducing repair time. (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Moving Ahead: The American Public Speaks on Roadways and Transportation Communities. FHWA-OP-01-017. Washington, D.C., 2001.)

Night work is increasingly being used to manage work zone delay and reduce exposure of workers and motorists:

53 percent of work zones are designated as day work, 22 percent as night work, and 18 percent are active all day or nearly all day (18 or more hours). (U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, A Snapshot of Peak Summer Work Zone Activity Reported on State Road Closure and Construction Websites. Washington, D.C., August 2002.)

Additional Sources Of Information

Last updated October 2008

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