National traffic
study shows Honolulu
gridlock is easingLos Angeles drivers
sit in traffic the longest
at 52 hours per year
Traffic congestion on Oahu is declining, according to an annual study that shows rush-hour drivers sat an extra 10 hours in traffic in 2001, down from 14 hours in 1990.
The Urban Mobility Study released yesterday by Texas A&M University's Texas Transportation Institute shows that Honolulu had the 25th shortest traffic-congestion delay out of 75 cities in the 2001 survey.
Los Angeles, whose drivers sat an extra 52 hours in traffic, had the highest. Anchorage, Alaska; Brownsville, Texas and Rochester, N.Y., had the shortest delay at three hours. The average delay due to traffic congestion was 26 hours, according to the study.
Mary Whitlock said over the five years she has commuted between Kailua and Downtown, her travel time has stayed at about 20 minutes even though, "there's a lot more traffic on the road, a lot more people on the road, there's more buildings, the streets are always full."
Commuter Espie Medina said she has been driving from Salt Lake to her Downtown job since 1998 and her travel time has also remained about the same.
According to the study, it took Honolulu motorists 19 percent longer to drive the same route during rush hour than it did during non-peak traffic hours in 2001. The difference was 21 percent in 1990.
University of Hawaii civil engineering professor Panos Prevedouros said the study's findings are suspect because the quality and quantity of data the researchers used and some of their underlying assumptions are questionable
For example, comparing peak and non-peak travel times is not a good indication of increased or decreased congestion because non-peak travel times can change year-to-year, he said.
Prevedouros said the study is useful in revealing trends but is not useful in solving traffic problems.
The study showed that traffic management strategies, like high-occupancy vehicle lanes and traffic signal light coordination, reduced travel time for Honolulu drivers about six minutes a year.
