Operations Performance Measurement Program
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21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies

UCR January 2010-March 2010 (FY 2010, Q2)

Urban Congestion Reports

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A Snapshot of Congestion Trends in the U.S. for January 2010 through March 2010.

Congested Hours

Average duration of weekday congestion

+5 minutes
from last year
red upward arrow - general trend is for declining conditions

Jan-Mar 2010: 4:21
Jan-Mar 2009: 4:16

Travel Time Index

Peak period travel times vs. off-peak travel times

+1 point
from last year
red upward arrow - general trend is for declining conditions

Jan-Mar 2010: 1.20
Jan-Mar 2009: 1.19

Planning Time Index

Unreliability (variability) of travel

+3 points
from last year
red upward arrow - general trend is for declining conditions

Jan-Mar 2010: 1.50
Jan-Mar 2009: 1.47

Summary of Nationwide Trends

  • All three nationwide measures in 2010 showed slightly worsening conditions when compared to the same three months in 2009.
  • Six of the 22 cities showed improvements in all three measures.
  • Twelve of the 22 cities showed worsening conditions in all three measures.
  • Four of the 22 cities had mixed results among the three measures.

Congestion and Reliability Trends for Each UCR City

January 2010 through March 2010 Quarterly Urban Congestion Report Compared to the same Three Months Last Year
City Congested Hours Travel Time Index Planning Time Index % Change in VMT % Usable Data
2010 Change from 2009 2010 Change from 2009 2010 Change from 2009
Atlanta, GA 3:40 -2:19 1.21 -1 1.60 +3 -14% 77%
Boston, MA 4:02 +0:25 1.19 +3 1.53 +9 2% 100%
Chicago, IL 7:46 -1:49 1.25 -4 1.62 -13 20% 76%
Detroit, MI 2:55 -0:45 1.14 +5 1.41 +4 -43% 54%
Houston, TX 4:21 +0:19 1.30 +2 1.67 +2 0% 80%
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 4:12 +0:48 1.19 +3 1.69 +17 1% 99%
Oklahoma City, OK 2:21 +0:32 1.06 +1 1.21 0 0% 100%
Orange County, CA 3:52 +0:44 1.21 +5 1.52 +10 -3% 94%
Los Angeles, CA 6:33 +0:29 1.30 +2 1.60 -1 -1% 94%
Philadelphia, PA 4:50 +0:26 1.22 +6 1.55 +14 -3% 93%
Phoenix, AZ 2:35 -0:26 1.16 -1 1.38 -1 -3% 96%
Pittsburgh, PA 7:27 +1:52 1.21 +3 1.51 +8 3% 97%
Portland, OR 1:20 -0:13 1.19 -1 1.55 0 2% 33%
Providence, RI 2:22 +0:02 1.08 +1 1.28 +4 1% 100%
Riverside - San Bernardino, CA 3:06 +0:22 1.11 +2 1.29 +2 0% 94%
Sacramento, CA 2:30 +0:14 1.10 0 1.33 +3 -2% 94%
St. Louis, MO 2:20 -0:02 1.08 +2 1.26 +5 11% 98%
Salt Lake City, UT 3:45 -0:32 1.03 -3 1.13 -10 1% 97%
San Antonio, TX n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
San Diego, CA 2:15 +0:16 1.10 +2 1.30 +5 -1% 94%
San Francisco, CA 2:57 +0:23 1.13 +2 1.35 +6 -2% 94%
Seattle, WA 4:39 -0:44 1.27 -1 1.62 -12 1% 87%
Tampa, FL 2:57 -0:07 1.12 -2 1.29 -2 -19% 87%

Notes:
Green bolded values (with – sign) indicate improving conditions; red italics (with + sign) indicate worsening conditions.
"n.a." indicates that data was not available or was of insufficient quality.
Comparison of 2010 to 2009 is for the same three-month period (January - March).

For more information on the UCR, contact Rich Taylor (Rich.Taylor@dot.gov).