THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: As if high gas prices aren't enough, frustrated drivers are spending more time sitting in traffic.
Joining us with more on the latest study of your rush hour commute is CNN's Natalie Pawelski.
We can all feel that pain, can't we?
NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Can't we, though, and it's not your imagination...
PHILLIPS: Good.
PAWELSKI: ... rush hour is getting worse, and it's getting longer, as well. A new study says the average American spends about 36 hours a year stuck in traffic. That's up from about 11 hours a year in 1982.
That's according to the annual Urban Mobility Report from the Texas Transportation Institute. Each year, researchers there rank 63 cities in a batch of traffic jamming categories.
The worst in every one this time is Los Angeles. For example, the study finds the average Angeleno wastes 56 hours a year stuck in traffic. Seattle and Atlanta are tied for second in that category, with drivers wasting 53 hours a year. The rest of that list is Houston, Dallas, Washington, Denver, Austin, St. Louis, and Miami.
By the way, those numbers are based on 1999 data. The researchers say that's the most recent available.
The study also looks at the difference between how long a trip takes during rush hour compared to nonrush-hour traffic. Here again, Los Angeles tops the list. It takes the average driver there about twice as long to make a trip in rush-hour conditions. The other cities with the slowest rush hours are Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, Boston, New York, Chicago, Portland, San Diego, and Atlanta.
The study also says all those delays end up wasting about 6.8 billion gallons of gas a year, and considering how high gas prices are getting, Kyra, the cost of traffic jams is going to continue to climb.
PHILLIPS: No kidding. Think of what we could do with all those hours.
It talks about the problem -- does it offer any solutions?
PAWELSKI: It looks at the problems and the solutions. The researchers say we're driving more without adding enough roads or adding other options like mass transit.
How do you solve that? The study suggests building more roads, but says that alone probably won't be enough. They say we should also try to make existing roads more efficient, rely more on car pools and public transportation, and try to find ways to get people to travel during off-peak hours.
But finding an off-peak time to drive is getting tougher. The study says city rush hour conditions are now averaging about six to seven hours a day -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: It makes our overnight shift not look so bad, doesn't it?
PAWELSKI: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: So positive. Natalie Pawelski, thanks so much.
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