OVERRATING THE RUSH HOUR

Traffic congestion in the U.S., while certainly not getting any better, is still far from intolerable for residents in many regions, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. The Institute knows this because it has developed a measure of congestion for each region called the travel time index (TTI). The TTI calculates the number of additional minutes needed to make a trip during peak travel periods rather than other times of day, when traffic is presumably flowing freely. The higher the TTI, the greater the congestion. This article presents the author's findings, from regression analysis, of using TTI data to discover what affects the Index, and thus congestion. Three key geographic/demographic independent variables with statistically significant impacts on regional traffic congestion were found to exist, and are described and discussed.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/08943842
• Corporate Authors:

  Congressional Quarterly, Incorporated

  1100 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 1300
  Washington, DC  United States  20036
• Authors:
  • Downs, A
• Publication Date: 2002-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 66
• Serial:
  • Governing
  • Volume: 15
  • Issue Number: 10
  • Publisher: Congressional Quarterly, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0894-3842

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile driving; Automobile travel; Highway traffic; Highway transportation; Large cities; Metropolitan areas; Peak hour traffic; Population density; Regression analysis; Traffic congestion; Travel patterns; Travel time
• Identifier Terms: Texas Transportation Institute
• Uncontrolled Terms: Travel time index
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00932658
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 12 2002 12:00AM