Columbus drivers spend 41 hours each year stuck in traffic
Researchers at Texas A&M’s Traffic Institute recently concluded work on their 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard. The survey examines the amount of time the average rush hour driver spends stuck in traffic each year. Results are broken down by city for each of the 471 metro areas included in the study.
According to the results, the average Columbus driver spends 41 total hours stuck in traffic each year. (Anyone who has every seen my morning commute will understand why I consider that figure to be a dramatically low.)
To give you an idea of what else you could do with that 41 hours, you could:
- ride the tilt-a-whirl at the Ohio State Fair for almost three straight days
- watch nearly 17 consecutive Columbus Blue Jackets games at Nationwide Arena
- go through the lunch line at my neighborhood Chipotle three times
41 hours is a long time to be stuck in traffic, but it is less than the national average of 42 hours.
Washington D.C. commuters get it the worst with an average of 82 hours each year stuck in traffic. Others near the top of the list: Los Angeles (80 hours), San Francisco (78 hours), New York (74 hours), and San Jose (67 hours).
The researchers say that the amount of time that we spend stuck in traffic is creeping back up. Figures had been down in recent years when the economy was doing worse and, frankly, fewer people had jobs so had no place to go. Also people had less money so weren’t going out as much. Now that the economy is coming back, more cars are on the roads and slowing everyone’s ability to get around. (jj)
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
