For the past couple of years, the city of Portland, Oregon – like many cities across the country – has been home to a heated debate regarding growing traffic congestion. Does the city spend money on widening existing highways or focus on funding alternative transportation?

Here are some interesting statistics I gleaned from The American Public Transportation Association and elsewhere that may sway the debate:

• From 1980 to 2005, the U.S. population grew 30 percent, while the number of registered motor vehicles increased 60 percent and the number of vehicle miles traveled grew 95 percent.
• According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, congestion is one of the single biggest threats to our economic prosperity and way of life, costing America $200 billion a year.
• In 2007, congestion caused urban Americans to travel 4.2 billion hours more and to purchase an extra 2.9 billion gallons of fuel for a congestion cost of $78 billion.
• In 2007, the the average American family spent $8,758 on transportation.
• In New York, where public transportation is widely available, only 14.0 percent of consumer expenditures are for transportation. In Phoenix, where there are fewer transportation options, consumer expenditures for transportation are 21.5 percent.
• The typical automobile user consumes twice as much oil as the public transportation user.
• Each year the use of public transportation in the United States saves 1.4 billion gallons of oil, representing 4 million gallons of gasoline per day – This is the equivalent of 140,769 fewer service station tanker trucks clogging our streets each year.
• Without public transportation, Americans would have suffered an additional 541 million hours of delay and consumed 340 million more gallons of fuel in 2005. The value of the delay and fuel that would be consumed if there were no public transportation service would be an additional $10.2 billion.
• Public transportation uses reduces delays for both public transportation riders and highway users. In one study of six urban corridors served by high-capacity rail transit, public transportation passengers saved 17,400 hours daily over auto travel. The remaining road users saved an additional 22,000 hours of delay per day due to the absence of vehicles from public transportation users. Travelers on surrounding roads in the corridors saved an additional 20,700 hours daily as spillover congestion was reduced. These reductions represent an annual savings of $225 million in the six corridors analyzed.

Want a few more facts? Consider these statistics the next time you are stuck in traffic.

• Nearly 60 percent of the U.S. population lives in major metropolitan areas of over 1 million, but only 8.3 percent of households have access to subway service.
• Over 50 percent of Americans do not live within one quarter mile of a transit stop.
• Only 4.3 percent of miles on our road system are served by public transportation.
• Two-thirds of rural Americans-60 million people-are almost wholly unserved by public transportation.
• Sprawling development patterns in America’s suburban areas often provide no choice but to use private vehicles for every travel need. This increases congestion requires more roads and parking facilities.

TTI’s 2007 Urban Mobility Report offers a variety of suggestions on how to reduce congestion on U.S. streets. These range from widening and redesigning roads to changing usage patterns and offering viable public transportation alternatives.

My personal observations suggest that widening roads doesn’t work. All of the highway expansions that I’ve witnessed simply resulted in larger backups. Apparently, when it comes to traffic congestion, there is a threshold that we as Americans are willing to persevere. Widening a road allows more cars to sit in the same mess that existed before the extra lanes were added.

I am coming to the conclusion that our best hope for real traffic relief will come in the form of:

1. New technologies that allow individuals to telecommute (work from home).
2. Smart city planning (and re-planning) that creates bike friendly / pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. Instead of suburban sprawl where cars are required for even the most basic chores, these are mixed communities where homes and businesses create neighborhoods and getting a cup of coffee or loaf of bread doesn’t require you to get in your car.
3. Viable public transportation. To be viable, it must be fast, clean, safe and convenient.

What are your thoughts? You can leave your comment hear or e-mail me at blog@informationdisplay.com