Traffic Congestion Glossary


Urban Area definitions


Urban Area Definition
Very large Over 3 million population:
Chicago IL-IN, Washington DC-VA-MD, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana CA, Houston TX, San Francisco-Oakland CA, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX, Boston MA-NH-RI, Atlanta GA, Seattle WA, New York-Newark NY-NJ-CT, Miami FL, Philadelphia PA-NJ-DE-MD, San Diego CA, Phoenix AZ, Detroit MI,
Large Over 1 million and less than 3 million population:
Baltimore MD, Denver-Aurora CO, Minneapolis-St. Paul MN, Orlando FL, Austin TX, Portland OR-WA, San Jose CA, Nashville-Davidson TN, Tampa-St. Petersburg FL, Pittsburgh PA, San Juan PR, Virginia Beach VA, Las Vegas NV, St. Louis MO-IL, New Orleans LA, Riverside-San Bernardino CA, San Antonio TX, Charlotte NC-SC, Jacksonville FL, Indianapolis IN, Raleigh-Durham NC, Milwaukee WI, Memphis TN-MS-AR, Sacramento CA, Louisville KY-IN, Kansas City MO-KS, Cincinnati OH-KY-IN, Cleveland OH, Providence RI-MA, Buffalo NY, Columbus OH
Medium Over 500,000 and less than 1 million population:
Baton Rouge LA, Bridgeport-Stamford CT-NY, Colorado Springs CO, Honolulu HI, New Haven CT, Birmingham AL, Salt Lake City UT, Charleston-North Charleston SC, Albuquerque NM, Oklahoma City OK, Hartford CT, Tucson AZ, Allentown-Bethlehem PA-NJ, El Paso TX-NM, Omaha NE-IA, Wichita KS, Richmond VA, Grand Rapids MI, Oxnard-Ventura CA, Springfield MA-CT, Albany-Schenectady NY, Lancaster-Palmdale CA, Tulsa OK, Sarasota-Bradenton FL, Akron OH, Dayton OH, Fresno CA, Indio-Cathedral City-Palm Springs CA, Toledo OH-MI, Rochester NY, Bakersfield CA, Poughkeepsie-Newburgh NY, McAllen TX
Small Less than 500,000 population:
Columbia SC, Salem OR, Little Rock AR, Cape Coral FL, Beaumont TX, Knoxville TN, Boise ID, Worcester MA, Jackson MS, Pensacola FL-AL, Spokane WA, Winston-Salem NC, Boulder CO, Greensboro NC, Anchorage AK, Brownsville TX, Provo UT, Laredo TX, Madison WI, Corpus Christi TX, Stockton CA, Eugene OR,

Category definitions:

Category Definition
Population
Population (000) Combination of U.S. Census Bureau estimates and the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Performance Monitoring System.
Population rank Out of 75 metro areas
Population group Size of meto area. Sml (small), Med (medium), Lr (large), Vlg (very large)
Peak road travelers Travelers who made a trip during the peak periods
Urban area size in square miles Size of area
Freeway
Freeway daily vehicle-miles of travel (000) The average daily traffic of a section of roadway multiplied by the length of that section of roadway
Freeway lane miles Total measure of all lanes
Principal arterial streets daily vehicle-miles of travel (000) The average daily traffic of a section of roadway multiplied by the length of that section of roadway
Principal arterial streets lane-miles Total measure of all lanes
Cost Components, Delay, and Wasted Fuel
Value of time ($/hour) The value in each year of person time used in the report; this is based on the value of time, rather than the average or prevailing wage rate.
Commercial Vehicle Operating Cost Truck travel time is estimated annually per hour for the purposes of estimating congestion cost.
Fuel Costs Statewide average fuel cost estimates were obtained from daily fuel price data published by the American Automobile Association (AAA).
Total annual delay (1000 person-hours) The value of lost time in passenger vehicles and the increased operating costs of commercial vehicles in congestion
Travel time index Ammount of additional time that is required to make a trip because of congested conditons on the roadways. Includes recurring and incident conditions.
% of Daily Travel During Congested Times 6:00 - 9:30 am and 3:30 - 7:00 pm
Operational Treatments Freeway incident management, freeway ramp metering, arterial street signal coordination, arterial street access management and high-occupancy vehicle lanes.
Public Transportation Regular route service from all public transportation providers in an urban area.
Annual Roadway Deficit (lane-miles) to maintain congestion level The number of lane-miles that an urban area is short of to offset traffic growth.
Excess Fuel Consumed Increased fuel consumption due to travel in congested conditions rather than free-flow conditions.
Congestion Cost Costs of the value of travel time delay are estimated annually; excess fuel consumption is estimated using state average cost per gallon. Values include the effects of operational treatments.
Transit or Carpool Riders needed to maintain congestion level The number of transit trips needed to maintain the same congestion level