According to the Houston Business Journal, Houston traffic has been reported as the ninth worst in the nation.
According to the Urban Mobility Report, compiled and released by the Texas A&M University System, Houston drivers spent 123.9 million hours in traffic in 2007.
The report also estimates Houstonians used almost 90 million more gallons of fuel because of the delays, costing us $2.5 billion. 2007 is the most recent year for which data is available.
Though much of this can be attributed to Houston being a busy city with a large population, a lot of Houston drivers simply shouldn’t be behind the wheel.
According to the ‘Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report,’ Houston ranked 161 out of 193 cities in the 2009. The higher the number is, the worse the city’s drivers.
The city of Houston is working with the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County to bring relief to drivers. Metro Rail is working on two Metro lines right now. A third will break ground July 13, and all three are scheduled to be completed by 2012.
With hope, these Metro lines will give Houstonians another mode of transportation. The more available and accessible they are to the public, the more appealing they will become. Only time will tell exactly how helpful this will be to the city.
Many Houstonians were ecstatic to see the construction on Interstate 10 finally come to a close, but it appears that elsewhere in Houston, delays will continue as construction persists. As long as our city continues to boom, who is really to argue?
It might take a little longer to get home from the workplace, but at least Houstonians have jobs. A little extra time behind the wheel isn’t so bad when put into perspective.
Matthew Keever is a communication junior and may be reached at [email protected]
