Operations Performance Measurement Program
photos of traffic merging on a multi-level freeway interchange, traffic near a construction zone, variable message sign, train at a crossing, traffic on a river bridge, and a rural highway
21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies

UCR January 2011-March 2011 (FY 2011, Q2)

PDF Version 350KB
PDF files can be viewed with the Acrobat® Reader®.

A Snapshot of Congestion Trends in the U.S. for January 2011 through March 2011.

Congested Hours

Average duration of weekday congestion

+9 minutes
from last year
red upward arrow - general trend is for declining conditions

Jan-Mar 2011: 4:26
Jan-Mar 2010: 4:17

Travel Time Index

Peak period travel times vs. off-peak travel times

+1 point
from last year
red upward arrow - general trend is for declining conditions

Jan-Mar 2011: 1.21
Jan-Mar 2010: 1.20

Planning Time Index

Unreliability (variability) of travel

+2 points
from last year
red upward arrow - general trend is for declining conditions

Jan-Mar 2011: 1.51
Jan-Mar 2010: 1.49

Summary of Nationwide Trends

  • All three nationwide measures in 2011 showed slightly worsening conditions when compared to the same three months in 2010.
  • Three of the 19 cities showed improvements in all three measures.
  • Nine of the 19 cities showed worsening conditions in all three measures.
  • Seven of the 19 cities had mixed results among the three measures.

Congestion and Reliability Trends for Each UCR City

January 2011 through March 2011 Quarterly Urban Congestion Report Compared to the same Three Months Last Year
City Congested Hours Travel Time Index Planning Time Index % Change in VMT % Usable Data
2011 Change from 2010 2011 Change from 2010 2011 Change from 2010
Atlanta, GA n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Boston, MA 5:23 +1:21 1.25 +6 1.71 +18 -6% 100%
Chicago, IL 7:15 +0:46 1.28 +3 1.67 +5 +3% 70%
Detroit, MI 3:25 +0:30 1.13 -1 1.59 +18 0% 41%
Houston, TX 3:42 -0:38 1.23 -7 1.56 -11 0% 82%
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 4:21 +0:09 1.20 +1 1.67 -2 0% 99%
Oklahoma City, OK 2:34 +0:14 1.07 +1 1.27 +6 -4% 100%
Orange County, CA 3:34 -0:19 1.19 -2 1.46 -6 +1% 94%
Los Angeles, CA 6:13 -0:20 1.30 0 1.61 +1 0% 94%
Philadelphia, PA 5:39 +0:49 1.24 +2 1.61 +6 -1% 95%
Phoenix, AZ n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Pittsburgh, PA 6:15 -1:12 1.22 +1 1.57 +6 +5% 98%
Portland, OR 1:25 +0:05 1.23 +4 1.67 +12 -2% 33%
Providence, RI 3:38 +1:15 1.14 +6 1.49 +21 -4% 100%
Riverside - San Bernardino, CA 2:53 -0:13 1.12 +1 1.31 +2 -1% 94%
Sacramento, CA 2:00 -0:29 1.08 -2 1.24 -9 0% 94%
St. Louis, MO 3:22 +1:02 1.09 +1 1.35 +9 +5% 96%
Salt Lake City, UT 2:14 +1:00 1.03 0 1.10 -3 1% 99%
San Antonio, TX n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
San Diego, CA 2:19 +0:03 1.12 +2 1.35 +5 -1% 94%
San Francisco, CA 2:51 -0:06 1.13 0 1.32 -3 +1% 94%
Seattle, WA n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Tampa, FL 3:39 +0:42 1.15 +3 1.38 +9 +6% 87%

Notes:
Green bolded values (with sign) indicate improving conditions; red italics (with + sign) indicate worsening conditions.
"n.a." indicates that data was not available or was of insufficient quality.
Comparison of 2011 to 2010 is for the same three-month period (January - March).

For more information on the UCR, contact Rich Taylor (Rich.Taylor@dot.gov).