The true cost of traffic is difficult to estimate, but averaging the four reports below produces an estimate of $162.8 Billion, unadjusted for inflation. It may be useful to examine the Additional Estimates section at the bottom to gain a better understanding of this area since these findings vary significantly in their methods.
| Datapoint | Source | Value | Type | Year | | Total Annual Cost of Congestion | United States Department of Transportation | $85.4 Billion | Study | 2008 | | Cost of Congestion | INRIX 2016 Traffic Scorecard | $300 Billion | Study | 2016 | | Cost of Premature Deaths due to Congestion | Harvard Center for Risk Analysis | $24 Billion | Estimate | 2007 | | Total Direct Economic Cost of Crashes | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration | $242 Billion | Study | 2010 |
In a February 2009 report entitled Assessing the Full Costs of Congestion on Surface Transportation Systems and Reducing Them through Pricing, The US Department of Transportation estimated that total annual congestion costs were $85.4 billion in 2008.
Selected additional details:
- Their estimate includes the costs of travel time, reliability, vehicle operating, mobility, and emissions.
- Travel time represents the largest category at $60.6 billion, nearly 71 percent of total. Meanwhile vehicle operating costs are the second-largest contributor to the overall cost of congestion with $11.3 billion. Emissions costs on the other hand were the least contributor to the overall cost of congestion at an estimated at $330 million.
- The report advocates for the creation of congestion pricing programs.
The 2016 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard estimated the total cost of congestion in the United States to be $300 Billion. The report also mentions:
- The average U.S. Commuter spends 42 hours in congestion.
- This represents 9% of all driving time.
- Each driver is estimated to bear annual costs of $1,400.
This estimate has attracted controversy. Writing at City Commentary, Joe Cortright explains:
while Inrix claims to have estimated the “cost” of congestion to travelers, these estimates are suspect for a number of reasons. Inrix uses a value higher than most other studies–almost $20 per hour for commuter travel time (a $12.81 wage rate, multiplied by 1.13 occupants per vehicle multiplied by 1.37 to reflect the aggravation of congestion). But real world experience shows that commuters actually value travel time savings at something more like $3 per hour. It also appears that there’s been a major shift in the monetization of congestion costs: Older studies like TTI, estimated dollar costs based on the additional time spent on a trip due to congestion: So if a trip that took ten minutes in un-congested traffic took a total of 15 minutes in a congested time period, they would monetize the value of the five minutes of additional time spent. The Inrix report appears to monetize the total value of time spent in congested conditions, i.e. anytime travel speeds fell below 65 percent of free flow speeds.
Writing in 2010, Jonathan I. Levy, Jonathan J. Buonocore, and Katherine von Stackelberg estimated total social cost of health risks due to congestion in 83 urban areas. They estimate that 3,000 deaths resulted from breathing emissions due to congestion, resulting in social costs of $24 Billion in 2017 dollars. They further note:
- "While the monetized public health damages are smaller than the economic value of time wasted...there are some geographic areas where public health damages represent a significant proportion of the total damages...."
- "These are models that predict emissions of pollutants associated with congested conditions on broader scales. Therefore, the results are approximations and represent order-of-magnitude predictions."
In The Economic and Societal Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes, the US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that the total value of societal harm from motor vehicle crashes was $836 Billion. They further note:
- 71% of their $836 Billion estimate accounted for lost quality of life.
- Direct economic costs in 2010 totaled $242 Billion.
- Congestion costs stemming from motor vehicle crashes were $28 Billion.
Given the complexity of esitmating costs due to traffic, it is worthwhile to examine narrower estimates of the costs that specific sub-groups bear to see the overall $162.8 Billion finding in context.
| Datapoint | Source | Value | Type | Year | | Cost to American Trucking Industry | American Transportation Research Institute | $63.4 Billion | 2017 |