In Atlanta, traffic congestion worsens

In Atlanta — as in most US metropolitan areas — traffic congestion is getting far worse, imposing real costs on every driver, according to a recent New York Times editorial by Paul Krugman. Moreover, commuters who drive to work during the city’s six-hour “rush hour” make congestion worse, adding to everyone’s burden. Krugman figures that each Atlanta automobile commuter imposes costs of $3,500 per year, or $14 per workday, on non-commuters who are just trying to get from place to place. Krugman based his figures on the 53 hours each Atlanta resident lost to traffic congestion in 1999 — compared with 25 hours in 1992. The editorial came in response to an Urban Mobility Report by the Texas Transportation Institute, which implied a growing disconnect between private incentives and public consequences.