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TAMPA – Congestion cost Tampa commuters an average of $ 1,216 and nearly four days of their time in 2018, according to the latest annual scorecard prepared by INRIX, a global traffic data company.
Tampa's traffic is far from the worst in the country, ranking 17th among the major US cities for hours lost in traffic jams. But the situation of motorists is worsening more quickly than most other regions on the list.
A Tampa driver who had been commuting at the slowest hour of the day lost 87 hours in traffic last year. This represents an 11% increase over 2017. The 10 most congested cities, with the exception of Pittsburgh, saw their traffic hours decrease or remain stable. In the top 25, only Nashville and Orlando experienced a larger increase than Tampa during the same period.
READ THE REPORT: 2018 INRIX traffic dashboard report
Beth Alden, executive director of the Hillsborough Planning Metropolitan Organization, said these figures correlated with other data on the reliability of travel time.
The Florida Department of Transportation is estimating the time drivers need to travel at peak rush hours and traffic congestion compared to what is planned for this corridor, which it calls "travel time reliability". . The state has a 75% reliability target for its airports and Tampa does not reach that goal at 71%, said Alden.
"We are in a downward trend in terms of reliability," she said. "That means we need to plan more time to get where we need to go, especially when it's a very difficult timeframe, like picking up your child at daycare."
If congestion can be a sign of a growing economy, it also has a cost, in time and money, for a city and its drivers.
"It means we're spending more time in traffic jams and less time doing the things we'd like to do," said Alden.
RELATED: State Transportation Officials Target New West Shore Interchange
The time lost cost the city of Tampa about $ 1.5 billion, according to the dashboard. INRIX data also showed that it takes 5 minutes to get to the city center during rush hours.
Although traffic congestion in Tampa is important, it is not the worst of the state. Miami drivers lost 105 hours of congestion last year, which cost them an average of $ 1,470 and the city about $ 4 billion, according to the INRIX dashboard.
Boston traffic was the worst in the country, averaging 164 hours late last year. Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York and Los Angeles complete the top five.
Contact Caitlin Johnston at [email protected] or (727-893-8779). Follow @cljohnst.
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