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Black-and-white photo for visual interest. Motor vehicles travel a congested urban street in the 1950s. Highrise buildings are on either side of the street.

As this picture from the 1950s shows, urban mobility has always been a challenge for transportation researchers.

Urban Mobility

Congestion is a big deal. And when you're sitting in traffic and trying to get somewhere, it's the only deal. Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) estimates that congestion is costing Americans more than $78 billion a year. Urban travelers are delayed in rush hour traffic nearly 40 hours a year.

TTI has studied congestion trends since 1982. The study results are published annually in the Urban Mobility Report, which is cited nationwide for its catalog of congestion delays and solutions in the nation's busiest cities. Several performance measures are used to examine congestion, but they all relate to what travelers find important—travel time and the day-to-day variation in travel time.

The Texas Congestion Index (TCI), also developed at TTI, is another measurement of congestion that uses data from travel demand models that factors in the (ground-only) transportation of people and freight by all modes in the state's urban centers. The index was adopted for use in congestion planning by the Texas Transportation Commission, the metropolitan planning organizations around the state, and Gov. Rick Perry, who said such strategies are an innovative way to relieve traffic congestion in our largest cities and improve roadway safety.

Such endorsements reflect the quality of TTI research and the consistent dedication of Urban Mobility researchers at TTI.

Related Research Units

Related Subtopics

TTI conducts research in a number of specific transportation-related areas. Click the following link to see a list of the subtopics related to this area.

For More Information

Tim Lomax
CE/TTI Building, Room 404
TTI/Mobility Analysis
Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3135
ph. (979) 845-9960
t-lomax@tamu.edu