America back on the road to gridlock

The 4th Annual 163 Inrix National Traffic Scorecard reveals gridlock and longer commute times returning to America’s roads. Traffic congestion increased nationwide for 11 consecutive months in 2010 with drivers experiencing increased traffic congestion nearly every hour of the day.

“America is back on the road to gridlock,” said Bryan Mistele, Inrix president and CEO. “Population growth combined with increases in interstate commerce spurred by economic recovery are fueling these increases. With only 150,000 new jobs created in our nation’s urban centres last year, we can expect even worse gridlock when the six million jobs lost in the recession return to the nation’s cities.”

Despite only modest employment gains in 2010, drivers are experiencing an average 10 per cent increase in travel times. If unemployment drops to seven per cent by 2012 as economists’ predict, nine million more daily work trips will jam America’s road network.