WASHINGTON, D.C.
If current patterns persist, Labor Day-like traffic will soon plague U.S. highways on the average day of the week, says a report prepared for the U.S. Travel Association.
The study looks at highway usage data and growth rates along 16 key interstate corridors nationwide and concludes that without investment and policy changes, average daily car volume will soon surpass that of the notoriously congested first weekend of September—within a decade in some places.
"Traveling with relative ease cannot be taken for granted, whether it's for business or pleasure," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. "If the average day on the road resembled those brutal periods when bumper-to-bumper traffic is the norm, it would devastate our economy and way of life. For a great number of America's major corridors, that day is not that far down the road."
The 16 interstate segments included in the analysis were selected for their geographical diversity and the quality of the traffic data available for them. Combined, they form a reliable snapshot of the growing congestion on U.S. highways, according to Cambridge Systematics, the firm that provided the report.
