The American Transportation Research Institute and the Federal Highway Administration have released a list of 2009's 100 most congested highway locations. Three of the top 10, including the first and second spots, are located in the Chicago area. Others highway segments in the top 10 are in Ft. Lee, N.J.; Atlanta; St. Louis; Los Angeles; Dallas and Philadelphia.
ATRI and FHWA are monitoring freight-significant highway locations as part of the ongoing Freight Performance Measures (FPM) initiative. This research uses ATRI-developed analysis methods, customized software tools and terabytes of data from trucking operations to produce a congestion-severity ranking for each of the 100 locations currently monitored. More specifically, this effort utilizes GPS technology and information to assess the level at which truck-based freight was affected by traffic congestion throughout 2009.
The majority of the locations that are currently monitored are urban interstate interchanges. On this type of highway segment, congestion is typically problematic during morning and evening rush hours. There are, however, several locations where congestion affects freight mobility during all hours of the day, and there are other locations where congestion is not a recurring issue.
A congestion measure (the Congestion Index) is produced for each location; this measure is based on the severity of congestion during weekdays in 2009. Average speeds below free-flow speeds (which is set at 55 mph) are considered to reflect congestion.
