Reason Foundation study says 2030 road traffic forecasts look bleak

Reason Foundation study says 2030 road traffic forecasts look bleak    A Reason Foundation study has found that by 2030, 30 American cities will experience rush hour traffic as bad as the nation's worst traffic centers — Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. — according to a USA Today story Thursday.
   The report said that most major metropolitan areas will see rush hour traffic that adds 50 percent or more to a typical commute, the effect of underfunded highway systems nationwide. The authors estimate that the country needs 104,000 additional lane-miles of capacity at a total cost of $533 billion over 25 years.
   The effect of heightened congestion would be obvious for shippers, with truck deliveries likely hampered by ever more traffic jams.
   'We will be spending billions on transportation projects in the coming years, but after population growth and increased truck traffic our congestion will actually be far worse, if we spend those billions as now planned,' Robert Poole, director of transportation at Reason Foundation and the study's project director, was quoted by USA Today. 'We must prioritize and focus our transportation funding where it can do the most good. We know the vast majority of Americans need to drive cars and that truckers haul 80 to 90 percent of our economy's goods. Unless we take significant action to add capacity where commuters have shown they want and need it, our economy and quality of life will take a pounding from congestion.'