L.A. traffic problems ease somewhat amid recession, study finds

The recession appears to easing Los Angeles' notorious traffic problems somewhat, according to a new study that found the region continues to have the nation's worst commute.

According to data released from the Texas Transportation Institute, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana region saw slight declines in annual traffic delays and excess fuel consumption. The report looked at 2007 data, the most recent available.

The findings underscore a Times analysis of traffic patterns last year. The Times found evidence that commute times were decreasing and freeway speeds in some areas were increasing.

The institute found a similar trend in other parts of the nation and attributed the small dips in traffic to the economy and fuel prices.

"Though it might have been hard to notice, traffic congestion took a break from its worsening trend even before the current recession, with high gas prices in the last half of 2007 bringing about a slight reduction in traffic," the organization said in a statement. "The recession that took hold soon after could prolong that effect, but experts warn that the slowdown in congestion growth will be temporary. When the economy rebounds, expect traffic problems to do the same."

The Los Angeles area continued to have the worse congestion in the country, according to the report, followed by New York; Chicago; Atlanta; Miami; Dallas-Fort Worth; Washington, D.C.; the Bay Area; Houston; and Detroit.

--Shelby Grad

Comments

[thecanimal]

What about the children?

[Jack Meoph]

The towns around my area are still full of people driving around, but the roads between the town have shown a significant decrease in traffic, especially on the weekends. No one is going anywhere, because no one can afford to go anywhere. I noticed that the tourist traffic is also down in my area.

[Duh]

Traffic in the early morning is usually less dense in the summer because people don't have to drive their kids to work. People tend to leave work later.

[MexiChick]

Sacramento was getting hit with ugly grid-lock for the past few years. Lots of building in the suburbs. In the past 6 months I have seen a BIG difference in traffic. Traffic is flowing nicely for the first time in years. I like it.

[MegaChannel]

Texas, an oil state did a traffic analysis, and it has no mention of how packed buses and subways are lately. Lay offs mean less people going to work, and maybe finding other ways to commute. Yes, but why state the obvious. Maybe we want to convince drivers there is more open road for the taking. Go guzle some gas guys, the road is open, Texas says so. PLEASE!