Bay Area Traffic Congestion Worsens, Poses Economic Threat.

Business & News Editors

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

The San Francisco-Oakland area now has the second-worst traffic congestion in the nation, according to a national report released today.

Only Los Angeles has worse bottlenecks, according to the Texas Transportation Institute's annual Mobility Study. San Diego ranks fifth worst, putting three of California's urban areas in the top five of the institute's list of the top 10 congested areas.

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. The Bay Area has moved from third to second most congested since T.T.I.'s last report in 1999. San Jose, Sacramento and San Bernardino/Riverside tied at number 15.

According to an analysis of the report conducted by The Road Information Program, the state's growing congestion poses a serious threat to California's economy.

"The Bay Area economy faces a two-fold threat: power blackouts and traffic gridlock. Energy shortages have caught the attention of California, but we also face a growing and potentially longer-lasting roads crisis. We need to invest more in our roads and highways to improve the mobility of both goods and people," said Jim Earp, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving transportation and infrastructure in Northern California.

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

The TRIP report shows that between 1990 and 1999, vehicle travel increased by 16 percent, population increased by 11 percent while lane mileage of streets and highways increased by only 1.5 percent.

The TRIP report also confirms 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, says 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.

The congestion is indeed taking its toll on pocketbooks, the TRIP report says. For example, congestion in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area region costs an estimated $3 billion annually in wasted fuel and lost time. That averages out to $760 per person. In Sacramento, the economic toll is an estimated $830 million annually, or $605 per person. In San Jose, the figure is $1.25 billion, or $750 per person annually. The number two ranking aside, raw data from the T.T.I. report shows traffic congestion in the San Francisco-Oakland region indeed has worsened since the last time the calculations were made in 1999. In 1999, the region scored a 1.42 in the travel rate index used in the report while in the new report the region scored a 1.45 indexing. This means peak time highway trips now take an average of 45 minutes longer in the region than trips taken when highways are not congested.

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.

The T.T.I. report comes at a critical time for the Bay Area, as the area's lead transportation planning agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, prepares to update its regional transportation plan for the next 25 years. The document will guide how federal, regional and local transportation dollars should be spent -- and just how much of the available money should be invested in roads and highways as opposed to less-utilized transit systems and other programs.

"Every dollar we spend on highway construction results in $5.70 in economic benefits because trips are shorter, highways are safer and vehicle operating costs are lower," said Ethan Veneklasen, transportation policy director for the California Alliance for Jobs. "This report clearly shows what our transportation funding priorities ought to be."

"Relieving traffic congestion and expanding street and highway capacity are critical to California's ability to support a growing economy and a burgeoning population," Fisher agreed. To accomplish that, the TRIP 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

For Bay Area interviews with Jim Earp or Ethan Veneklasen, call Dennis Oliver at 510/452-1661. For statewide perspective, call Larry Fisher at 916/600-4260. To reach the Road Information Program, call Frank Moretti or Bill Outlaw at 202/466-6706.

(The complete TRIP Report is on the California Alliance for Jobs and Transportation California websites at www.rebuildca.org and www.transportationca.com.)