Hours of Traffic Delay by Metro Area: Range from 6 in Wichita to 70 in Los Angeles

New data released today from the Texas Transportation Institute. http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/congestion_data/tables/national/table_4.pdf

According to the report, the average L.A. metro commuter spends an extra 70 hours per year sitting in traffic delays -- that's 2 whole work weeks. And it's up from 44 hours per week in 1982.

According to a TSTC analysis at http://blog.tstc.org/2009/07/08/traffic-congestion-solved-if-only/ , congestion in the NYC area is very costly to the local economy:

"Even so, commuters in New York City still spent more than a typical work week (44 hours) stuck in traffic on an annual per capita basis. In Philadelphia, the figure was 38 hours. TTI calculates that Stamford-Bridgeport commuters spent 33 hours in traffic. In Hartford and New Haven, commuters spent 21 and 19 hours in traffic respectively. The cost of wasting all that time in traffic (in extra fuel and lost productivity) amounted to an astounding $11.2 billion annually for the entire tri-state region."

Sidewalks result in 15-50% increase in physical activity

http://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news.aspx?s=71384

According to a San Diego State University study published in this month’s American Journal of Preventative Medicine, the biggest single factor influencing physical activity around the world is accessibility to sidewalks.

Researchers looked at data from 11,541 survey participants in 11 countries, which included the United States, Lithuania, Brazil, Sweden and Japan. Those individuals who reported living in a city neighborhood with easy access to sidewalks were 15-50 percent more likely to get moderate-to vigorous activity at least five days a week for at least 30 minutes each day.

Sallis and his fellow researchers also recently completed a long-term study focusing on communities in the United States which also found that people living in high-walkable communities got substantially more exercise and were less likely to be overweight than those living in low-walkable areas.

Immigrants are 30% more likely to open businesses.

Center for an Urban Future, cited in issue 23 of Next American City, page 26.