Today TTI had released its latest edition of the popular product – Urban Mobility Report (2012). The 2012 edition introduced for the first time,  a way to measure that degree of unreliability in planning a trip, as part of the annual Urban Mobility Report (UMR).   The press release explains it succintly:

The Planning Time Index (PTI), a measure of travel reliability, illustrates the amount of extra time needed to arrive on time for higher priority events, such as an airline departure, just-in-time shipments, medical appointments or especially important social commitments. If the PTI for a particular trip is 3.00, a traveler would allow 60 minutes for a trip that typically takes 20 minutes when few cars are on the road. Allowing for a PTI of 3.00 would ensure on-time arrival 19 out of 20 times.

Access the whole report (PDF) by clicking the cover photo of the report below.

TTI’s 2012 Urban Mobility Report

As one would expect, the reactions for the report was mixed – both positive and negative from the transportation community.  That said, here are some highlights from the 2012 UMR:

Congestion costs are increasing. The congestion “invoice” for the cost of extra time and fuel in 498 urban areas was (all values in constant 2011 dollars):

• In 2011 – $121 billion; In 2000 – $94 billion; In 1982 – $24 billion

Congestion wastes a massive amount of time, fuel and money. In 2011:

• 5.5 billion hours of extra time (equivalent to the time businesses and individuals spend a year filing their taxes).
• 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel (enough to fill four New Orleans Superdomes).
• $121 billion of delay and fuel cost (the negative effect of uncertain or longer delivery times, missed meetings, business relocations and other congestion-related effects are not included) ($121 billion is equivalent to the lost productivity and direct medical expenses of 12 average flu seasons).
• 56 billion pounds of additional carbon dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere during urban congested conditions (equivalent to the liftoff weight of over 12,400 Space Shuttles with all fuel tanks full).
• 22% ($27 billion) of the delay cost was the effect of congestion on truck operations; this does not include any value for the goods being transported in the trucks.
• The cost to the average commuter was $818 in 2011 compared to an inflation-adjusted $342 in 1982.
  

  English: Traffic congestion on southbound Interstate 95 in Baltimore, Maryland, near milepost 50. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Congestion affects people who travel during the peak period. The average commuter:

• Spent an extra 38 hours traveling in 2011, up from 16 hours in 1982.
• Wasted 19 gallons of fuel in 2011 – a week’s worth of fuel for the average U.S. driver – up from 8 gallons in 1982.
• In areas with over three million persons, commuters experienced an average of 52 hours of delay in 2011.
• Suffered 6 hours of congested road conditions on the average weekday in areas over 3 million population.
• Fridays are the worst days to travel. The combination of work, school, leisure and other trips mean that urban residents earn their weekend after suffering over 20 percent more delay hours than on Mondays.
• And if all that isn’t bad enough, folks making important trips had to plan for approximately three times as much travel time as in light traffic conditions in order to account for the effects of unexpected crashes, bad weather, special events and other irregular congestion causes.

Congestion is also a problem at other hours. 

• Approximately 37 percent of total delay occurs in the midday and overnight (outside of the peak hours) times of day when travelers and shippers expect free-flow travel. Many manufacturing processes depend on a free-flow trip for efficient production and congested networks interfere with those operations.

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(Image Courtesy: European PressPhoto Agency via NBCNews)

Prime minister turns traffic cop after hitting East Timor gridlock Image Courtesy: EPA via NBC News

Prime minister turns traffic cop after hitting East Timor gridlock Image Courtesy: EPA via NBC News

How often you see the leader of a nation get down to the street and direct traffic flow?  The answer is NEVER. But that changed today. The Prime Minister of East Timor, Xanana Gusmao, turned traffic cop on Monday after his car got stuck in a traffic jam outside the presidential office in the capital Dili.

Saw this picture below tweeted out by joanna coles @JoannaColes Editor-in-Chief Cosmopolitan Magazine. She shot this gridlocked thoroughfare from her office (located on the 38th floor of the building where Cosmopolitan mag. is located).  With its subway system crippled by Sandy, this pic. shows how badly NYC needs to reconsider its transportation strategies and prioritize implementing any/all strategies that moves people away from cars.  It is going to be once heck of a recovery until the subway limps back to normal!   

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(Cross posted on The Young Professionals in Transportation Blog)

Click the image to access the report

AASHTO released its latest report, Unlocking Freight, at a national news conference in Des Moines, Iowa, and at two regional news conferences in Tennessee and Pennsylvania on July 8th. The report includes new data, state examples of urgent capacity needs, and solutions to solve the pending transportation crisis in America’s freight system.  The reports shows that investments are well below what are needed to maintain – much less improve – the movement of freight in this country.  As a result, according to this report released, the transportation system that supports the movement of freight across America is facing a crisis.

The transportation system that supports the movement of freight across America is facing a crisis. Our highways, railroads, ports, and waterways require investment well beyond current levels to maintain – much less improve – their performance. Millions of jobs and our nation’s long-term economic health are at risk.

• Significantly more freight will be moved across the country and around the world in the 21st century.
• The current capacity of our nation’s roads, rails and seaports is not keeping pace with demand.
• The nation’s freight transportation system directly affects economic development, current and future jobs, and the quality of life in our communities.
• Greater investment, better planning and more highway and rail capacity are needed to address these problems.
  – Expand the capacity of the Interstate Highway System.
  – Create and fund a national freight program that could include multi-state freight corridor organizations at the state, regional, and multi-state level.
  – Invest in Intermodal Connector Improvements.

In 10 years, an additional 1.8 million trucks will be on the road; in 20 years, for every two trucks today, another one will be added. Already bottlenecks on major highways used by truckers every day are adding millions of dollars to the cost of food, goods, and manufacturing equipment for American consumers.

Unlocking Freight finds our highways, railroads, ports, waterways, and airports require investments well beyond current levels to maintain – much less improve – their performance. The report identifies key projects in 30 states that would improve freight delivery and dependability, and offers a three-point plan to address what is needed to relieve freight congestion, generate jobs and improve productivity.

Despite more long-distance freight being moved by intermodal rail, the report finds that trucks will still carry 74 percent of the load. On average, 10,500 trucks a day travel some segments of the Interstate Highway System today. By 2035, this will increase to 22,700 commercial trucks for these portions of the Interstate, with the most heavily used segments seeing upwards of 50,000 trucks a day. Yet between 1980 and 2006, traffic on the Interstate Highway System increased by 150 percent while Interstate capacity increased by only 15 percent. The report identifies the 1,000 miles of most heavily traveled highways used by trucks.

Each year, 147 million tons of freight pass through Tennessee by way of trucks, rail cars and barges. Nearly half of Tennessee’s Gross Domestic Product comes from the movement of goods and more than half of the statewide employment is in goods-dependent industries. The segment of I-40 through Tennessee and Arkansas alone accounts for nearly one-third of the nation’s busiest truck miles.

A current strain on the movement of freight in the Tri-State region is the lack of vehicular and rail crossings along the Mississippi River, according to Nicely. Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas are currently working to develop a third Mississippi River bridge crossing – dubbed the Southern Gateway Project. Environmental studies on the project are now underway and include consideration of a multi-use bridge that would include both vehicle and rail access.

Unlocking Freight is the second in a series of reports generated by AASHTO to identify the need to increase capacity in our transportation system. For more information and to see state examples of freight capacity needs, go tohttp://expandingcapacity.transportation.org.

To view the first report in the series, Unlocking Gridlock, go to http://expandingcapacity.transportation.org.

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• 21 reviews of interstate highway system (rateitall.com)

(Source: AFP via Google, ITDP & Jakarta Post)

New laws requiring disabled pedestrians to wear traffic signs have met with frustration and derision in Indonesia, where in the eyes of the law cars have taken priority over people.

The laws will do nothing to improve road safety or ease the traffic that is choking the life out of the capital city of some 12 million people, and serve only to highlight official incompetence, analysts said.

Within five years, if nothing changes, experts predict Jakarta will reach total gridlock, with every main road and backstreet clogged with barely moving, pollution-spewing cars.

That’s too late for the long-awaited urban rail link known as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), which has only just entered the design stage and won’t be operational until 2016 at the earliest.

“Just like a big flood, Jakarta could be paralysed. The city’s mobility will die,” University of Indonesia researcher Nyoman Teguh Prasidha said.

Instead of requiring level footpaths and ramps, lawmakers voted unanimously this month to demand disabled people wear signs announcing their condition so motorists won’t run them down as they cross the street.

Experts say the new traffic law is sadly typical of a country which for decades has allowed cars and an obsession with car ownership to run rampant over basic imperatives of urban planning.

“It is strange when handicapped people are asked to carry extra burdens and obligations,” Institute of Transportation Studies (Instran) chairman Darmaningtyas said.

A 2004 study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency found that traffic jams cost Jakarta some 8.3 trillion rupiah (822 million dollars) a year in extra fuel consumption, lost productivity and health impact.

Paralyzing traffic jams and severe air pollution are the most frequent answers when people are asked what they know about Jakarta. Motorized vehicle ownerships increase in line with a rise in income per capita.

An Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) study notes that motorized vehicle ownership is growing at 9 percent every year, with more than 1,500 new registrations being filed a day for motorcycles and 500 a day for cars.  The study discusses various options including BRT, incentives for biking, etc to manage the growing congestion problem that is now threatening to cripple the growth of the country’s economy and adversely affect the quality of life of its citizens.

Now, growth of the vehicle population is not the only problem.  The drivers behind the wheel are adding to the chaos on the roads.  An article that recently appeared in the online edition of Jakarta Post, says the following: Driving in Jakarta is nothing short of chaotic, thanks to the huge quantity of people using the roads, the often terrible condition of the roads and the vast variety of vehicles there are. All of this chaos is only made worse by drivers who are reckless and dismissive of other road users.

There are drivers that seem utterly oblivious to there being anybody else on the roads except themselves. Perhaps they are too comfortable in the enclosed air-conditioned capsule that is their vehicle, as they listen to pumped-up stereophonic music or even watch small video screens, to pay any attention or care about anyone else on the roads.

Click here to read the entire article.