"Reigning Champ of Traffic Delays"

It's of badge of honor really, well except for the millions of Los Angeles residents who sit in traffic for an average of 72 hours. The good news, if you can call it that is that it is not getting any worse according to this particular study. However, there is some controversy over the accuracy of the statistics and their importance. LAT:

But the findings of the Texas Transportation Institute were immediately challenged Tuesday by some experts who warned that the study significantly underestimates the severity of the region's traffic congestion.

The intense debate over statistics reflects the enormous influence of chronic traffic congestion on the lives of Southern Californians and the tough policy decisions that must be made to combat it.

The Texas report says motorists in Los Angeles and Orange counties spent an average of 72 extra hours in rush-hour traffic in 2005, the subject of the current study. That's one day shy of two full workweeks a year and is 20 hours more than in 1985. The delay represents the difference between how long it takes to travel during peak periods compared with hours when traffic flows freely.

"L.A. is still the king of congestion," said David Schrank, co-author of the institute's Urban Mobility Report.

Is there a crown that comes with that title? I mock, because well, it is such a huge issue. There is no easy solution. Like the times says, there are only tough decisions to be made. It is important that pressure continues to be brought to bear on those in power to fix it and that a bright light shines upon their decisions. Traffic congestion alleviation is crucial to the quality of life of Californians.

More on the controversy over these statistics:

But Ikhrata said "the average is misleading" because between 2000 and 2005 "our congestion increased tremendously." He said using an average delay per year for a region as vast as Los Angeles and Orange counties does not reflect the experience of motorists, particularly in highly congested corridors.

Martin Wachs, a transportation expert at Rand Corp. in Santa Monica, agreed that average delay is not the best measure of what motorists are experiencing. "I am not interested in arcane indices," Wachs said. "I am interested in travel time."

"Traffic congestion is worsening gradually and steadily in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and most other large American cities," said Wachs, who headed the transportation research centers at UC Berkeley and UCLA for decades.

Whether it is terrible and getting worse, or just plain awful, it is unacceptable.