More Cars, More Traffic

Just in case you needed a numerical explanation of why there is so much traffic in California, the Legislative Analyst's Office just released some figures. From John Meyers:

One good example, lifted right out of the first pages of the LAO report: from 1990 to 2003, California's population increased by about 21%... travel on the state's highway system rose by 26%... while highway lane-miles only increased 3%.

Also interesting is the LAO's analysis that aside from LA, the Bay Area, Orange, and Ventura counties, highway capacity increases have been almost "nonexistent" in some parts of the state. That's significant when measured against the list of the three areas with the highest population growth in the 1990-2003 period: Sacramento, Bakersfield, and Riverside-San Bernardino.

And one final piece of not-so-good news: congestion on urban freeways costs Californians at least $16 million per day in wasted time and excess fuel.

I bet you are thinking about your commute home today and looking oh so forward to it.