Conservatively Speaking
State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend, the town of Vernon and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.
Wasting time in your car is costly
On May 24, 2007, I blogged about an extensive interview FOX 6 News did with me for their investigative report on ramp meters, the traffic lights on freeway on-ramps.
My concern is the ramp meters unnecessarily force motorists to wait long periods of time.
The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) has released its national study on traffic congestion, the 2007 Urban Mobility Report. In its press release, the TTI reports:
“Traffic congestion continues to worsen in American cities of all sizes, creating a $78 billion annual drain on the U.S. economy in the form of 4.2 billion lost hours and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel—that's 105 million weeks of vacation and 58 fully-loaded supertankers. The current report is based on 2005 figures, the most recent year for which complete data was available.
The 2007 mobility report notes that congestion causes the average peak period traveler to spend an extra 38 hours of travel time and consume an additional 26 gallons of fuel, amounting to a cost of $710 per traveler.”
The TTI report says drivers waste almost an entire work week each year sitting in traffic on the way to and from their jobs.
Here is an ABC News report on the study.
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