The Economic Cost of Traffic Congestion in Florida

Traffic congestion in the U.S. is bad and getting worse, and it is expensive. Appropriate solutions to this problem require appropriate information. A comprehensive and accurate analysis of congestion costs is a critical tool for planning and implementing policies to improve traffic conditions not only because the information will aid decision making and provide a basis for evaluating the effects of public interventions, but also because it will sensitize public opinion about the importance of solving congestion problems. According to the Texas Transportation Institute‟s (TTI) Urban Mobility Report, which produces the most widely used estimates of the cost of congestion, in 2005, the average peak-period traveler in the urbanized areas of the country experienced an additional 38 hours in travel times and consumed an additional 26 gallons of fuel due to congestion. That means an aggregate of 4.2 billion hours of travel delay and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel, representing a monetary cost of $78.2 billion, up from a cost of $14.9 billion in 1982. In Florida six of the seven urban areas with individual estimates in the Urban Mobility Report are classified as having “much higher congestion” or “higher congestion” when compared with similar regions across the country. The cost of congestion in these seven urban areas is $5.2 billion. These estimates, however, are intended for comparisons of trends for individual cities and, by definition, they are aggregate and general. TTI itself acknowledges these limitations stating that “local and state studies are typically more detailed and relevant.” For this reason, in this research, the authors conducted a more detailed study of congestion costs with the objective of filling some of the gaps of the Urban Mobility Report: [1] TTI just shows individual estimates of seven urban areas in Florida; [2] TTI does not take into account rural areas; [3] TTI does not allow a spatial understanding of congestion; [4] TTI uses national averages of constants and general estimations instead of specific state or local information; and [5] TTI omits important costs of congestion. This study used historical data on traffic densities provided by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to estimate speeds, travel delay, and cost of congestion for every county in Florida. To that end, the study expanded and adapted TTI‟s method to all urban and rural areas, included state and local information when possible, analyzed the spatial implications of congestion, and proposed a method to calculate the costs of congestion due to unreliability. In addition, more disaggregated estimation methods were employed to calculate congestion metrics and costs to the level of road section providing more accuracy and detail. The results of the study show that traffic congestion has been increasing in every county in Florida. Also, congestion is not just an urban issue but a rural issue as well. Rural areas adjacent to urban areas experienced worse traffic congestion than rural areas isolated from urban areas. The authors' findings suggest that urban freeways are more sensitive to population size than urban arterials. As population increase urban freeways experience more traffic congestion than urban arterials. The opposite is observed in rural areas. Based on these findings the authors recommend some directions for future research about the effect of different public interventions.