Raleigh commuters wasted approximately 18.2 million hours of additional time on the roads and 11.7 million gallons of additional gas as a result of traffic congestion in 2005. The additional wasted time and fuel cost the public an equivalent of $346 million, according to the federally sponsored Urban Mobility Report released by the Texas Transportation Institute. The findings underscore the need for additional transit in the region.
The report shows that traffic congestion would be significantly worse if not for public transportation within the metro area. Last year, Raleigh’s public transit system saved drivers and riders $14.1 million and 742,000 hours of driving time.
“Population has increased, households own more cars, and drivers travel farther each year. Traffic congestion won’t slow down until those trends change,” said NCPIRG’s Rob Thompson. “The state needs to focus policy on getting more cars off the road, particularly through enhanced rail and bus transportation. Each full bus can get 50 cars off the road. Drivers across North Carolina should be calling for more and better public transportation.”
NCPIRG is advocating better public transportation to give commuters a choice when it comes to getting around.
More Transit, Not Roads
“We’ve got to get away from the idea that the only way to accommodate more travelers is by building more roads. We need an infrastructure that can support sustainable growth,” said Thompson. “A regional rail system is a 21st century solution to ensure that North Carolina continues to be a great place to live.”
Specifically, NCPIRG is working with local governments to develop transit projects and is working at the state level to increase funding for public transit.
Until policy-makers decide to allocate more resources to public transit, congestion will afflict more drivers for an increasing number of hours with longer delays. Whereas in 1982, congestion problems in Raleigh affected 13 percent of commuters during the 2.6 daily rush hours, the new data shows that in 2005 a full 47 percent of travel was affected by the 6.2 hours of rush hour congestion.
“For decades, we’ve tried to fight traffic congestion by building new roads,” said Thompson. “This report is further evidence of the failure of that strategy. Instead we need to expand bus and rail systems—like the LYNX rail project in Charlotte—to reduce the number of drivers on the road. Doing so will reduce our state’s dependence on dirty fossil fuels and address congestion problems before they cripple our metro areas.”
