To put this in perspective, even in a “recovering” 2014 housing market, Americans lost $192.6 billion to foreclosures. If the economy continues to improve, the 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard predicts that by 2020 annual delays per commuter will grow from 42 hours to 47 hours (more than a full week’s work lost) total delays nationwide will grow from 6.9 billion hours to 8.3 billion hours and the total cost of congestion will jump from $160 billion to $192 billion. The lost value of time to the economy from congestion just in this handful of locations is upward of $2.4 billion annually. Drivers stuck on roads with bottlenecks experience delays of about 91 million hours every year, the equivalent of 45,500 person-work-years. The American Highway Users Alliance found that the top thirty bottlenecks in the country are each responsible for more than one million hours of lost time annually. Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, warns of “global gridlock” by 2050 “if we continue on the path we’re on.” He adds,“Our infrastructure cannot support such a large volume of vehicles without creating massive congestion that would have serious consequences for our environment, health, economic progress and quality of life.” The year 1993, let alone 1986, seems a lifetime ago, but traffic hasn’t gotten any better. It was specifically about avoiding and outsmarting the notoriously gnarly traffic in New York City in the pre-Waze days. (I’m exaggerating a bit here: travel patterns made my signal plan useful for many other fans as well.) My dislike of bottlenecks and gridlock also inspired my 1993 book Shadow Traffic’s New York Shortcuts and Traffic Tips. When it was time to go, my unmarked Plymouth Fury would glide effortlessly through the traffic signals on the Northern Boulevard as they turned green in sequence. I hate it so much that in 1986 I implemented a computer program that could determine the best way to beat rush hour so I could work a full day (I was traffic commissioner of New York City at the time) and still make it to Shea Stadium for the World Series.
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