The traffic jams caused an estimated 124 million extra gallons of gas to be burned. Texas Transportation Institute's Mobility Study Discuss this story HOV lanes on I-25 connected Los Angeles continues to have the worst congestion problems in the country, according to the Texas study. LA drivers spend an average of 56 hours more on the road each year than they would have to if traffic moved freely. In Denver, the number is 45. In the Atlanta area, where the population grew by more than one-third during the last decade, the number of hours that motorists spent stuck in traffic more than doubled.
Researchers say there s no single solution to the worsening problem of traffic jams.
Lomax and fellow researcher David Schrank says other ways to reduce congestion include more mass transit, shifting some trips away from peak hours, changing the timing of traffic signals and telecommuting.