UCR January 2012-March 2012 (FY 2012, Q2)
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A Snapshot of Congestion Trends in the U.S. for January 2012 through March 2012.
Congested Hours
Average duration of weekday congestion
-30 minutes
from last year
Jan-Mar 2012: 3:58
Jan-Mar 2011: 4:28
Travel Time Index
Peak period travel times vs. off-peak travel times
-2 points
from last year
Jan-Mar 2012: 1.19
Jan-Mar 2011: 1.21
Planning Time Index
Unreliability (variability) of travel
-6 points
from last year
Jan-Mar 2012: 1.46
Jan-Mar 2011: 1.52
Summary of Nationwide Trends
- Congested hours improved (30 minutes shorter), the travel time index improved slightly (by 2 points), and the planning time index improved by 6 points. All measures compared the most recent 3 months in 2012 to the same 3 months in 2011.
- Nine of the 19 cities (47%) showed improvements in all three measures.
- Three of the 19 cities (16%) showed worsening conditions in all three measures.
- Seven of the 19 cities (37%) had stable or mixed results among the three measures.
Congestion and Reliability Trends for Each UCR City
| City | Congested Hours | Travel Time Index | Planning Time Index | % Change in VMT | % Usable Data | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Change from 2011 | 2012 | Change from 2011 | 2012 | Change from 2011 | |||
| Atlanta, GA | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Boston, MA | 3:39 | -1:43 | 1.18 | -7 | 1.48 | -23 | +6% | 100% |
| Chicago, IL | 6:03 | -1:12 | 1.26 | -2 | 1.68 | +1 | -6% | 84% |
| Detroit, MI | 2:34 | -1:03 | 1.08 | -7 | 1.28 | -32 | +3% | 100% |
| Houston, TX | 4:26 | +0:44 | 1.32 | +9 | 1.77 | +21 | -2% | 83% |
| Los Angeles, CA | 5:24 | -0:50 | 1.26 | -4 | 1.52 | -9 | +1% | 100% |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | 2:56 | -1:26 | 1.12 | -8 | 1.39 | -28 | +4% | 100% |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 1:59 | -0:35 | 1.06 | -1 | 1.19 | -8 | +4% | 100% |
| Orange County, CA | 3:24 | -0:10 | 1.20 | +1 | 1.43 | -3 | -3% | 100% |
| Philadelphia, PA | 4:00 | -1:38 | 1.20 | -4 | 1.49 | -12 | +6% | 100% |
| Phoenix, AZ | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 5:23 | -0:52 | 1.22 | 0 | 1.49 | -8 | +6% | 100% |
| Portland, OR | 1:35 | +0:10 | 1.24 | +1 | 1.69 | +2 | -7% | 31% |
| Providence, RI | 2:54 | -0:44 | 1.09 | -5 | 1.26 | -23 | +7% | 100% |
| Riverside – San Bernardino, CA | 2:38 | -0:15 | 1.10 | -2 | 1.26 | -5 | +2% | 100% |
| Sacramento, CA | 1:52 | -0:08 | 1.08 | 0 | 1.25 | +1 | 0% | 100% |
| St. Louis, MO | 5:57 | +2:35 | 1.06 | -3 | 1.23 | -12 | +9% | 95% |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 1:54 | -0:04 | 1.04 | +1 | 1.15 | +5 | +1% | 98% |
| San Antonio, TX | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| San Diego, CA | 2:18 | -0:01 | 1.11 | -1 | 1.31 | -4 | -2% | 100% |
| San Francisco, CA | 3:06 | +0:15 | 1.15 | +2 | 1.34 | +2 | -1% | 100% |
| Seattle, WA | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Tampa, FL | 3:44 | +0:05 | 1.16 | +1 | 1.37 | -1 | -1% | 100% |
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 2012 to 2011 is for the same three-month period (January - March).
For more information on the UCR, contact Rich Taylor (Rich.Taylor@dot.gov).
