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Table 4-27. Annual Wasted Fuel Due to Congestion

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  Gallons Wasted (millions) (% change) Short-term 1992-1997 (% change) Long-term 1982-1997
Urban area R1982 R1986 R1990 R1992 R1995 R1996 1997 % Rank % Rank
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 0 2 4 4 4 5 5 25 50 NM 59
Albuquerque, NM 2 4 9 11 19 22 25 127 6 1150 3
Atlanta, GA 31 69 71 84 162 185 214 155 3 590 22
Austin, TX 5 11 14 20 27 30 40 100 11 700 14
Bakersfield, CA 0 0 2 2 2 3 3 50 32 NM 59
Baltimore, MD 26 44 84 82 114 117 123 50 32 373 36
Beaumont, TX 0 0 0 1 2 2 2 100 11 NM 59
Boston, MA 63 109 163 175 220 229 236 35 43 275 42
Boulder, CO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NM 65 NM 59
Brownsville, TX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NM 65 NM 59
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 3 3 7 7 8 8 9 29 47 200 48
Charlotte, NC 4 6 12 14 18 20 27 93 16 575 23
Chicago, IL-Northwestern, IN 108 205 271 297 342 371 398 34 44 269 44
Cincinnati, OH-KY 8 11 26 32 41 43 49 53 31 513 27
Cleveland, OH 4 7 19 23 37 44 48 109 9 1100 4
Colorado Springs, CO 0 2 2 4 7 7 7 75 22 NM 59
Columbus, OH 4 6 18 20 33 32 37 85 18 825 12
Corpus Christi, TX 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 50 32 50 58
Dallas, TX 33 81 87 97 133 136 162 67 26 391 34
Denver, CO 17 27 43 52 80 88 96 85 18 465 29
Detroit, MI 98 131 211 241 245 266 288 20 53 194 49
El Paso, TX-NM 2 2 4 7 8 7 9 29 47 350 38
Eugene-Springfield, OR 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 NM 65 NM 59
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood-Pompano Beach, FL 7 14 18 35 44 49 55 57 30 686 17
Fort Worth, TX 11 24 34 34 47 52 59 74 23 436 31
Fresno, CA 2 4 9 7 8 8 10 43 38 400 33
Hartford-Middletown, CT 3 10 17 18 15 16 19 6 60 533 25
Honolulu, HI 10 15 21 23 25 24 25 9 58 150 52
Houston, TX 103 133 120 122 140 167 206 69 25 100 55
Indianapolis, IN 3 7 14 19 53 55 61 221 1 1933 1
Jacksonville, FL 8 11 18 20 29 33 33 65 27 313 40
Kansas City, MO-KS 4 8 15 17 32 38 45 165 2 1025 7
Laredo, TX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NM 65 NM 59
Las Vegas, NV 3 7 22 22 41 45 44 100 11 1367 2
Los Angeles, CA 490 764 1,044 1,042 1,066 1,092 1,108 6 60 126 54
Louisville, KY-IN 4 7 12 22 32 39 42 91 17 950 9
Memphis, TN-AR-MS 4 4 11 15 27 30 32 113 7 700 14
Miami-Hialeah, FL 44 61 102 119 125 118 136 14 56 209 47
Milwaukee, WI 7 12 22 31 41 39 38 23 51 443 30
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 8 20 37 47 76 80 96 104 10 1100 4
Nashville, TN 5 9 15 15 27 30 35 133 5 600 21
New Orleans, LA 16 25 30 31 36 33 32 3 62 100 55
New York, NY-Northeastern, NJ 314 405 616 567 680 724 802 41 40 155 51
Norfolk, VA 9 18 25 25 31 38 41 64 28 356 37
Oklahoma City, OK 2 3 7 9 15 20 22 144 4 1000 8
Omaha, NE-IA 3 5 10 14 18 21 19 36 42 533 25
Orlando, FL 7 13 15 29 35 42 50 72 24 614 20
Philadelphia, PA-NJ 70 92 113 120 139 159 166 38 41 137 53
Phoenix, AZ 25 48 62 65 73 90 93 43 38 272 43
Pittsburgh, PA 12 19 28 27 33 32 33 22 52 175 50
Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA 11 25 38 52 75 85 84 62 29 664 19
Providence-Pawtucket, RI-MA 4 9 20 16 21 24 23 44 37 475 28
Rochester, NY 1 2 4 6 8 9 9 50 32 800 13
Sacramento, CA 8 16 42 43 50 57 54 26 49 575 23
Salem, OR 0 0 2 2 2 2 3 50 32 NM 59
Salt Lake City, UT 2 2 7 13 22 23 23 77 21 1050 6
San Antonio, TX 8 21 17 19 30 34 38 100 11 375 35
San Bernardino-Riverside, CA 9 25 50 62 70 74 72 16 55 700 14
San Diego, CA 15 47 100 108 111 114 117 8 59 680 18
San Francisco-Oakland, CA 149 241 288 276 286 291 280 1 63 88 57
San Jose, CA 20 42 80 85 87 89 86 1 63 330 39
Seattle-Everett, WA 40 74 122 150 143 148 165 10 57 313 40
Spokane, WA 0 2 2 2 3 3 4 100 11 NM 59
St. Louis, MO-IL 23 36 55 66 116 117 122 85 18 430 32
Tacoma, WA 2 7 17 18 18 18 21 17 54 950 9
Tampa, FL 12 16 23 29 38 37 38 31 46 217 46
Tucson, AZ 2 2 8 9 13 15 19 111 8 850 11
Washington, DC-MD-VA 101 164 225 248 300 326 327 32 45 224 45

KEY: NM = not meaningful; R = revised.

NOTES: "Wasted" fuel is the difference between the fuel consumed under estimated existing conditions and the fuel consumed if all traffic was moving at free-flow conditions. Calculations are made for peak period speeds and for free-flow speeds on both the freeway and principal arterial systems. For a more detailed description of the formulas used, see the source document. The cities shown represent the 50 largest metropolitan areas, as well as others chosen by the states sponsoring the study.

SOURCES: 1982-1996: Texas Transportation Institute, unpublished data.

1997: Ibid., The 1999 Annual Urban Mobility Report (College Station, TX: 1999), table 6.
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