Buffalonians getting stuck in traffic more often

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You know this: Buffalo-area commuters are stuck in traffic a lot less than their counterparts in many other large cities.

What you probably don’t know: Buffalonians are sitting in traffic a lot longer than they used to.

The 2012 Urban Mobility Report issued by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute considered traffic congestion in the nation’s 101 largest metropolitan areas. The report includes slews of tables from which we gleaned a few highlights,

• Buffalo-area motorists spent an average of 33 hours in traffic due to congestion, ranking the region No. 45. The average in comparable large metro areas is 37 hours.
• Drivers in Washington, D.C., deal with the worst congestion, an average of 67 hours a year.
• The delays in Buffalo translate into the use of an additional 18 gallons of gas, which, for most of us, means a tank, maybe a tank-and-half.
• Using a different measure – “wasted hours” – the report found that the amount of time Buffalonians spend stuck in traffic has increased from 18 hours in 1982 to 43 hours today. That increase ranks the region 38th among the 101 metro areas studied.

There’s all sorts of other measures, including those that consider public transit and the environmental impacts of congestion. If you’re so inclined, take a look and post a comment with your findings.