ErikStenger
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http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/24/tr...-lifestyle-autos_intersections_full-list.html
To compile this ranking, Inrix multiplied each highway segment's 2008 travel time index by that segment's length to create a measure of likely driver pain.
Inrix's customers, which include Mapquest and Clear Channel (nyse: CCU - news - people ), as well as navigation device makers like Garmin (nasdaq: GRMN - news - people ) and TomTom, use its data to route drivers around the kinds of bottlenecks included in this study. This spring, new cars from Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) will include an Inrix service called predictive routing that sends drivers around predicted traffic in addition to current traffic. For instance, a driver going from New York to Washington using the new service will get directions from Inrix that avoid actual traffic jams in New York as well as tie ups that Inrix predicts one hour ahead in Philadelphia, two hours ahead in Maryland and three hours ahead in Washington.
Silver Lining
Inrix's analysis reveals a striking trend: Traffic congestion has decreased profoundly across the country. A combination of high gas prices and a slowing economy caused a 3% dip in driving in 2008, according to federal data. Inrix says that drop led to a 30% decrease in congestion.
"That's really dramatic," says Inrix chief executive Bryan Mistele. "A fairly minor difference in the number of vehicles on the road had a disproportionate impact on congestion." It also underscores the importance of careful planning as the Department of Transportation plots out where to spend stimulus money that is marked for highway construction.
"We should continue to focus on traffic congestion and not assume that this drop is permanent," says Mistele. "Traffic congestion will return to normal levels, which are problematic. [Congestion] has a real cost on society in terms of gas, in terms of carbon emissions and in terms of productivity."
The only city in Inrix's study that didn't see a drop in traffic congestion was Baton Rouge, La., where hurricane recovery, the energy industry and road construction led congestion to grow 6% over 2007 levels.
Honolulu experienced the largest drop in congestion in the survey; travel times there decreased by 11%, though it still ranks second in the nation by that measure. Among more populous areas, California's Inland Empire (an area that includes Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) saw the most improvement, with congestion there falling by 60% due to the economic slowdown and real estate collapse.
Not only did cities change places in the survey; many intersections did, too. "The mobility, if you'll excuse the term, of the bottlenecks is surprising," says Schuman. A third of last year's worst 100 bottlenecks have been replaced by others on the list this year, and a quarter of the top 1,000 are new. That suggests that bottlenecks are closely related to road construction, he says.
Schuman points to Minneapolis, where the interchange between Interstates 35E and 694 was the 63rd worst in the country in 2007. After completion of Minnesota's "Unweave the Weave" highway project there, the interchange has dropped off of Inrix's list altogether. Now U.S. 169 Southbound at Interstate 494/Highway 5 delays drivers most.
In all, Inrix figures that the average driver spent about 13 fewer hours sitting in traffic in 2008 than they did in 2007. Although the reasons behind that--high gas prices and a bad economy--are negative, it's good news for the hapless drivers who have to fight their way through the Cross Bronx Expressway. The average congested speed of 11.2 miles per hour at its worst interchange is up from 9.7 miles per hour in 2007.
That saves the average rush-hour commuter about two hours per year of sitting at the most congested place in the country.
To compile this ranking, Inrix multiplied each highway segment's 2008 travel time index by that segment's length to create a measure of likely driver pain.
Inrix's customers, which include Mapquest and Clear Channel (nyse: CCU - news - people ), as well as navigation device makers like Garmin (nasdaq: GRMN - news - people ) and TomTom, use its data to route drivers around the kinds of bottlenecks included in this study. This spring, new cars from Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) will include an Inrix service called predictive routing that sends drivers around predicted traffic in addition to current traffic. For instance, a driver going from New York to Washington using the new service will get directions from Inrix that avoid actual traffic jams in New York as well as tie ups that Inrix predicts one hour ahead in Philadelphia, two hours ahead in Maryland and three hours ahead in Washington.
Silver Lining
Inrix's analysis reveals a striking trend: Traffic congestion has decreased profoundly across the country. A combination of high gas prices and a slowing economy caused a 3% dip in driving in 2008, according to federal data. Inrix says that drop led to a 30% decrease in congestion.
"That's really dramatic," says Inrix chief executive Bryan Mistele. "A fairly minor difference in the number of vehicles on the road had a disproportionate impact on congestion." It also underscores the importance of careful planning as the Department of Transportation plots out where to spend stimulus money that is marked for highway construction.
"We should continue to focus on traffic congestion and not assume that this drop is permanent," says Mistele. "Traffic congestion will return to normal levels, which are problematic. [Congestion] has a real cost on society in terms of gas, in terms of carbon emissions and in terms of productivity."
The only city in Inrix's study that didn't see a drop in traffic congestion was Baton Rouge, La., where hurricane recovery, the energy industry and road construction led congestion to grow 6% over 2007 levels.
Honolulu experienced the largest drop in congestion in the survey; travel times there decreased by 11%, though it still ranks second in the nation by that measure. Among more populous areas, California's Inland Empire (an area that includes Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) saw the most improvement, with congestion there falling by 60% due to the economic slowdown and real estate collapse.
Not only did cities change places in the survey; many intersections did, too. "The mobility, if you'll excuse the term, of the bottlenecks is surprising," says Schuman. A third of last year's worst 100 bottlenecks have been replaced by others on the list this year, and a quarter of the top 1,000 are new. That suggests that bottlenecks are closely related to road construction, he says.
Schuman points to Minneapolis, where the interchange between Interstates 35E and 694 was the 63rd worst in the country in 2007. After completion of Minnesota's "Unweave the Weave" highway project there, the interchange has dropped off of Inrix's list altogether. Now U.S. 169 Southbound at Interstate 494/Highway 5 delays drivers most.
In all, Inrix figures that the average driver spent about 13 fewer hours sitting in traffic in 2008 than they did in 2007. Although the reasons behind that--high gas prices and a bad economy--are negative, it's good news for the hapless drivers who have to fight their way through the Cross Bronx Expressway. The average congested speed of 11.2 miles per hour at its worst interchange is up from 9.7 miles per hour in 2007.
That saves the average rush-hour commuter about two hours per year of sitting at the most congested place in the country.
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