Operations Performance Measurement Program
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21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies

UCR July 2012-September 2012 (FY 2012, Q4)

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A Snapshot of Congestion Trends in the U.S. for July 2012 through September 2012.

Congested Hours

Average duration of weekday congestion

-1 minute
from last year
green downward arrow - general trend is for improving conditions

Jul-Sep 2012: 4:13
Jul-Sep 2011: 4:14

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

Jul-Sep 2012: 1.20
Jul-Sep 2011: 1.19

Planning Time Index

Unreliability (variability) of travel

+4 points
from last year
red upward arrow - general trend is for declining conditions

Jul-Sep 2012: 1.46
Jul-Sep 2011: 1.42

Summary of Nationwide Trends

  • Congested hours decreased slightly (1 minutes shorter), whereas the travel time index and planning time index worsened (by 1 point and 4 points, respectively). All measures compared the most recent 3 months in 2012 to the same 3 months in 2011.
  • 5 of the 19 cities (26%) showed improvements in all three measures.
  • 9 of the 19 cities (48%) showed worsening conditions in all three measures.
  • 5 of the 19 cities (26%) had stable or mixed results among the three measures.

Congestion and Reliability Trends for Each UCR City

July 2012 through September 2012 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
2012 Change from 2011 2012 Change from 2011 2012 Change from 2011
Atlanta, GA n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Boston, MA 5:50 +0:01 1.29 +4 1.69 +6 0% 100%
Chicago, IL 6:57 -0:45 1.21 -12 1.48 -17 -5% 83%
Detroit, MI 2:32 -0:28 1.11 -1 1.32 -6 -5% 100%
Houston, TX 4:10 +1:33 1.30 +13 1.70 +42 -2% 92%
Los Angeles, CA 6:09 +0:36 1.27 +3 1.55 +7 0% 99%
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 4:42 +0:53 1.23 +4 1.53 +9 0% 90%
Oklahoma City, OK 1:20 -0:41 1.06 -1 1.18 -2 +4% 100%
Orange County, CA 3:51 +0:18 1.21 +3 1.45 +3 +1% 99%
Philadelphia, PA 4:30 -0:59 1.18 -3 1.50 -10 +2% 100%
Phoenix, AZ n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Pittsburgh, PA 5:49 -0:49 1.22 -7 1.46 -21 +6% 100%
Portland, OR 1:53 +0:02 1.26 +1 1.61 0 -6% 32%
Providence, RI 2:42 -0:17 1.11 0 1.33 +1 +2% 100%
Riverside – San Bernardino, CA 2:43 +0:21 1.10 +1 1.24 -1 +1% 99%
Sacramento, CA 1:36 -0:11 1.08 0 1.21 +1 0% 98%
St. Louis, MO 4:43 +1:37 1.07 -1 1.20 -3 -1% 96%
Salt Lake City, UT 1:44 +0:33 1.07 +3 1.20 +7 +6% 69%
San Antonio, TX n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
San Diego, CA 2:24 +0:16 1.11 +1 1.29 +2 0% 99%
San Francisco, CA 4:01 +1:00 1.18 +4 1.39 +9 -2% 99%
Seattle, WA n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Tampa, FL 3:13 +0:15 1.15 +4 1.40 +11 0% 100%

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 2012 to 2011 is for the same three-month period (July - September).

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