Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Almost 40 hours in traffic per year

Report declares congestion worsening — but consider the source

A detailed, annual report on the cost of traffic congestion, lack of road and bridge upgrades, and accidents related to needed safety improvements was released last week.

The nonprofit known as TRIP (“a national transportation research group”) claims San Diego drivers will spend an average of $1886 this year in additional motoring costs, due to congestion and lack of highway construction and maintenance. Wasted time and fuel alone accounted for an estimated $774 in additional costs.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The report found traffic congestion in San Diego worsening, now causing 37 annual hours of delay for the average San Diego County motorist; this means most San Diegans spend more time commuting to work than they receive in vacation time.

San Diego ranks third in the state, behind Los Angeles ($2458) and San Francisco/Oakland ($2206).

Notably, of the five metro areas in the report, Sacramento was the least behind on highway upgrades and maintenance. In the state’s capital, where legislators and Caltrans officials hang out, motorist will pay only $1543 in additional costs.

Total additional cost to California drivers: $44 billion. The group bases its findings on operating costs of a vehicle, traffic crashes, needed improvements, and congestion-related delays.

TRIP, which promotes “policies which are designed to improve traffic conditions,” also reports, “34 percent of the state’s major urban roads and highways are in poor condition, and more than 25 percent of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.”

The report also indicated that the 2012 fatality rate on California’s rural state highway system was four times higher than on our freeways and improved highways.

However, Caltrans director Malcolm Dougherty stated that California motorists are currently enjoying highways that are in the best condition in more than a decade, due to the current stability of transportation funding.

TRIP, based in Washington DC, admits that its funding comes from construction labor unions, highway construction equipment manufacturers, businesses involved in highway and transit engineering and construction, and insurance companies.

Though everyone who drives in San Diego knows about the increased traffic and deteriorating roadways, one could argue that TRIP’s real mission is about jobs: for every $1 billion spent in highway construction, 27,800 jobs come along with it, according to a 2007 analysis by the Federal Highway Administration.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Ben Folds takes requests via paper airplane at UCSD

A bunch of folks brought theirs from home
Next Article

JamPinoy: one cafeteria line, two cultures

Pick your island cuisine in Vista's new Jamaican-slash-Filipino eatery

A detailed, annual report on the cost of traffic congestion, lack of road and bridge upgrades, and accidents related to needed safety improvements was released last week.

The nonprofit known as TRIP (“a national transportation research group”) claims San Diego drivers will spend an average of $1886 this year in additional motoring costs, due to congestion and lack of highway construction and maintenance. Wasted time and fuel alone accounted for an estimated $774 in additional costs.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The report found traffic congestion in San Diego worsening, now causing 37 annual hours of delay for the average San Diego County motorist; this means most San Diegans spend more time commuting to work than they receive in vacation time.

San Diego ranks third in the state, behind Los Angeles ($2458) and San Francisco/Oakland ($2206).

Notably, of the five metro areas in the report, Sacramento was the least behind on highway upgrades and maintenance. In the state’s capital, where legislators and Caltrans officials hang out, motorist will pay only $1543 in additional costs.

Total additional cost to California drivers: $44 billion. The group bases its findings on operating costs of a vehicle, traffic crashes, needed improvements, and congestion-related delays.

TRIP, which promotes “policies which are designed to improve traffic conditions,” also reports, “34 percent of the state’s major urban roads and highways are in poor condition, and more than 25 percent of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.”

The report also indicated that the 2012 fatality rate on California’s rural state highway system was four times higher than on our freeways and improved highways.

However, Caltrans director Malcolm Dougherty stated that California motorists are currently enjoying highways that are in the best condition in more than a decade, due to the current stability of transportation funding.

TRIP, based in Washington DC, admits that its funding comes from construction labor unions, highway construction equipment manufacturers, businesses involved in highway and transit engineering and construction, and insurance companies.

Though everyone who drives in San Diego knows about the increased traffic and deteriorating roadways, one could argue that TRIP’s real mission is about jobs: for every $1 billion spent in highway construction, 27,800 jobs come along with it, according to a 2007 analysis by the Federal Highway Administration.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Could this be Queen Bee’s last North Park fab fair?

Developers eye site, but historical designation may stop them
Next Article

Frank Zane has already won

But don’t call former Mr. Universe retired
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader