Sitting in traffic is as frustrating as ever, but a new study shows that some fixes are having a big impact on traffic congestion.

Convenient bus service, more carpool lanes, synchronized traffic signals, strategically placed tow trucks, and even those annoying freeway ramp meters have become highly effective in putting the brakes on traffic congestion, according to the annual Urban Mobility Report [external link], one of the nation’s most recognized transportation surveys.

The report was released today by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), and confirms for the first time that public transportation and congestion management tools have combined to reduce time stuck in traffic in the highly congested Puget Sound metropolitan region.

"For the first time, the institute has measured the benefits of public transportation – and what it has discovered is that each person in the Seattle-Everett area saves an average of 14 hours a year due to reduced congestion," King County Executive Ron Sims said. "When you combine our high-quality, frequent transit service in this region with other traffic management controls, it creates a congestion relief toolbox that is really making a difference."

The TTI study points out that the Seattle metropolitan area’s "avoided delay" is the largest of all of comparable cities ranked as "large" in the study. Only New York/Northeast New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Boston and San Francisco – four areas included in the "very large" category – had higher rates of avoided delay.

If the King County region had failed to invest in transit service and operational improvements, the average daily trips in 2001 would have been more than 40 percent longer for all vehicles. As a result, the region has saved an estimated $630 million annually according to the report. That amounts to a savings of $277 per person in the Seattle-Everett metropolitan area.

There was also some slightly encouraging news regarding Central Puget Sound’s overall congestion ranking. Due primarily to slower growth and other economic factors, congestion in our metropolitan area has fallen to ninth place. The region has consistently ranked in the Top 5 most congested areas in recent years – a major indicator that transportation investments have failed to keep pace with growth. Local transportation experts believe; however, that this lower ranking is temporary and will once again rise as the Puget Sound region’s economy and employment rebound.