1.0Sightline Institutehttps://www.sightline.orgClark Williams-Derryhttps://www.sightline.org/profile/clark-williams-derry/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="oEzgpMtyNc"><a href="https://www.sightline.org/2011/10/05/congestion-2/">Congestion: The Untold Story</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.sightline.org/2011/10/05/congestion-2/embed/#?secret=oEzgpMtyNc" width="600" height="338" title="“Congestion: The Untold Story” — Sightline Institute" data-secret="oEzgpMtyNc" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> https://www.sightline.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Seattle-TTI.gif321498Last week, the Texas Transportation Institute released their annual "Urban Mobility Report," which surveys congestion and traffic trends across US cities. And the first thing the authors argue in their executive summary is that congestion is a very serious issue indeed: Congestion is a significant problem in America’s 439 urban areas. And, although readers and policy makers may have been distracted by the economy-based congestion reductions in the last few years, the 2010 data indicate the problem will not go away by itself – action is needed...[T]he problem is very large. And so on. Clearly, the report's authors want us all to believe that even if congestion is better than it was a few years back, it'll rear its ugly head again as soon as the economy picks up again. But my read of the numbers reveals a somewhat different story: in much of the Pacific Northwest, congestion flattened out long before the recession began. It's a story that's especially clear for Seattle.