D-FW traffic congestion declines - Dallas Business Journal:

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The 2009 report studies traffi trends overa 25-year period betweenj 1982 and 2007. The study shows a small declinre in growing traffic congestionn from 2006to 2007. 2007 data is the most recent data used inthe study. Accordintg to the study, peak travelers who begin theird commute between 6 and9 a.m. and 4 and 7 p.m. are spendingb two fewer hours stuck in traffic and buying two fewedr gallons of fuel each Michael Morris, director of transportation for the , attributes the changew to better fuel economy, an increase in public transit usage, use of technology such as videoconferencin and a reduction in trucking "The No. 1 reason is the reduction in truckl traffic," Morris said.
"Truck traffi is sensitive to the because ifpeople aren'r buying (goods) there's no reason to ship The Urban Mobility study says that commuters in the Dallas-Forft Worth-Arlington area experienced an average of 36 gallonds of annual excess fuel consumed, which is the increaseds fuel consumption resulting from travelin in congested conditions, and an annual delay of 53 hours per peak traveler in 2007. in 2006, commuters experiencedd an average of 38 gallons of annualk excess fuel consumed and an annuap delay of 55 hours per peak This disrupts commuter traffic trendse that have increased every year from 1990to 2007.
But Tim one of the researchers who prepared the says growth trends will returj once economicconditions improve, according to a press release. Morris agrees, "Right now we have growinvg unemployment, and people are not traveling as much as if they were fully employed. But the economy will eventually improve, and my hope is that we'llo have a lot of our transittprojects (currently in progress) builrt by then." Historical trends detailed in the reporty support the theory. Despite the decline in total fuel consumed and total delays per traveler overthe 2006-2007 time frame, consumers are still spending more on fuel costs.
From 2006 to the average cost per hour per commuter increase dfrom $15.06 to $15.47. Commercial coste per hour also increasedfrom $98.77 in 2006 to $102.1q in 2007. The increase can be attributed to the increased cost of fuelfrom $2.5t per gallon in 2006 to $2.92 per gallonb in 2007. The total congestion cost for 2007 wasroughlh $2.85 million or slightlgy more than $1,075 per peak traveler.