WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Los Angeles, New York and Chicago have the worst traffic delays for U.S. motorists, according to a national study released Tuesday.
The survey by the Texas Transportation Institute found an average Los Angeles commuter spent 93 hours stuck in traffic jams during 2002, nearly double the 56 hours spent in northern Indiana and Chicago traffic backups. Chicago-area delays translated to nearly 238 million hours lost for all drivers in the region.
Dallas had the biggest increase in traffic congestion from 13 hours during 1982 to 61 hours during 2002.
"The average annual increase in delay per traveler has climbed 30 hours over the past 20 years," the American Road & Transportation Builders Association said. "Traffic congestion also costs America nearly six billion gallons in wasted fuel annually."
The annual Urban Mobility Report said traffic jams cost motorists 3.5 billion hours a year in the nation's largest 85 cities and congestion is becoming worse in small, medium and large urban areas.
The Texas Transportation Institute is based at Texas A&M University.
