[0] Traffic Congestion is California's Economic Roadblock.

Business & News Editors

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2001

Traffic congestion continues to worsen in California.

San Diego now joins Los Angeles and the Bay Area on The Texas Transportation Institute's Top Ten list of congested cities in the United States. This puts three of California's urban areas in the top five. The Riverside-San Bernardino area is among six California urban areas now in the top 15.

The nation's worst 10, in order of rank, are Los Angeles, San Francisco-Oakland, Seattle, Washington D.C., San Diego, Chicago, Boston, Portland, Atlanta and Las Vegas. Los Angeles-Orange retains its rank as the most congested area in the nation. Riverside-San Bernardino is now number 15.

"California has not done enough to expand or enhance its transportation systems and the cost of traffic congestion threatens our economy," said Larry Fisher, executive director of Transportation California, the state's leading transportation advocacy group. "Travel in California in the last decade increased 10 times faster than new lane capacity was added."

Fisher said there is such a strong link between highway mobility and economic health that the growing level of traffic congestion is impeding California's economic recovery and will have serious consequences for the economy in the coming decade.

Norm King, executive director of the San Bernardino Association of Governments, said, "The Inland Empire economy faces a two-fold threat: power blackouts and traffic gridlock. We must invest in necessary infrastructure to preserve jobs and protect the well-being of our people."

A report prepared for Transportation California by The Road Information Program (TRIP) shows that traffic congestion is becoming California's economic roadblock. More than three-quarters of all goods shipped from California sites are now transported on trucks. More than 15 percent are shipped by courier. Freight deliveries in California and other Western states are projected to double by the year 2020. California businesses, said the report, are dependent on the reliable movement of goods into and out of urban areas.

According to the new T.T.I. report, however, half of California's urban freeways are presently considered congested because they carry more traffic than they were designed to handle.

Without a substantial new investment in transportation infrastructure, traffic congestion will continue to increase dramatically. Between 1990 and 1999, vehicle travel increased by 16 percent, population increased by 11 percent and lane mileage increased by only 1.5 percent. California's population is expected to increase by 39 percent in the next 20 years, an even greater growth rate than California saw in the last decade. The impact on travel and movement of goods could be devastating, Fisher warned.

"Relieving traffic congestion and expanding street and highway capacity are critical to California's ability to support a growing economy and a burgeoning population," he said. To accomplish that, the study recommends that California:

-- Maximize the cost effectiveness of transportation dollars

-- Evaluate the usefulness of transportation strategies and enhance those that
get traffic moving

-- Work for a balanced transportation system, expanding both highways and
transit

-- Create more industrial/commercial transportation corridors for trucks and
buses

-- Create secure sources of funding to meet the demands of California's
population and economy

(The complete report is on the Transportation California website at www.transportationca.com.)