THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: Where's the rush in that rush hour? Well, it's not just the aggravation. A study out today shows drivers in major cities are wasting valuable time in bumper-to-bumper gridlock, much of it spent going to and from, yes, work.
Right now, you're taking a look at a live picture, the early evening rush hour in Atlanta, rated today as one of the 10 worst cities for rush-hour traffic. No kidding.
No surprise, though, Los Angeles was rated worst city of all. But the study says the problem affects drivers in scores of cities, and we're taking a look now at the picture from Los Angeles. It's only getting worse everywhere, though. Here with more on the rush- hour crush, CNN environment correspondent Natalie Pawelski. Tell us what is going on with this, Natalie?
NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: Joie, it's not your imagination. The traffic really is getting worse.
And a study out of the Texas Transportation Institute tells us just how bad. It finds Los Angeles has the slowest rush hour in the country, with drive time trips taking twice as long as off-peak trips. The rest of the slow-going top 10: Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, Boston, New York, Chicago, Portland, San Diego and Atlanta.
The report says the average American driver spends 36 hours a year stuck in traffic. That's not total travel time; that's just the extra time you waste when you're stuck and going slow. And in this category, too, L.A. comes out the worst. The average Angelino, the study finds, wastes 56 hours a year bogged down in traffic. Seattle and Atlanta are tied for second in that category, with drivers wasting 53 hours a year.
The rest of that list: Houston, Dallas, Washington, Denver, Austin, St. Louis and Miami. Add up all the time wasted by all American commuters, and researchers figure we're wasting about 4.5 billion hours every year, Joie.
CHEN: Well, Natalie, I think we've had some of this asked by some of our Web chatters in our morning online editorial meeting. Some folks have been asking, what this really adds up to in cost, to all of us.
PAWELSKI: Well, the researchers took a look at wasted time, lost productivity, as well as the amount of gasoline that gets wasted by people just sitting in traffic, and they came up with the grand total of $78 billion wasted every year. Your particular toll, 620 bucks each driver.
CHEN: Take a look at this picture. It's rush hour in Chicago. Looking at these pictures, they tell me this is Lakeside Drive. I'm not sure. As a former Chicagoan, I am not sure where that is. Taking a look at that picture coming to us from WGN TV in Chicago, showing us the traffic there.
Here's a live chat question for you now, Natalie: "Is most time spent in traffic due to commuting to a job?" Maybe we should all just quit our jobs and stay home.
PAWELSKI: Hey, I wouldn't mind it. Would you? Do you think they would let you phone it in?
CHEN: Let me work from home, I think that's what we want.
PAWELSKI: Well, obviously, driving to and from work is one of the biggest things that eats up -- this study didn't break it up specifically. But telecommuting and other ways of getting to work are considered to be one of the ways that you might be able to solve this problem, you might be able to cut down on congestion.
CHEN: Taking a look here now, pictures from St. Louis, Missouri, it's also getting into the afternoon rush hour there. Doesn't look quite as bad in St. Louis this afternoon, Natalie.
Let's get another question from our live Web chat. Bev Dendys is asking: "How many studies of traffic have resulted in its recommendations actually being implemented?" That's true, Natalie. It seems like they are studying this all of the time, but who is fixing it?
PAWELSKI: That's the problem. A lot of the solutions are kind of expensive. I mean, pouring more concrete or encouraging people to take the bus or the subway when they'll just as soon be in their own nice, leather-seated sports utility vehicle, that's really tough. But nobody has really figured out the silver bullet for this problem.
CHEN: So, there is no solid solution? Nobody's saying, if you just do this -- I mean, aside from everybody staying at home -- there's no simple solution for any of this?
PAWELSKI: Well, this particular study suggested a series of solutions. Building more roads is part of it, but they said we'd also need to make the roads we have got work more efficiently. Also, encourage people to use mass transportation and car pool.
And then finally, one suggestion is to try to get people to use off-peak hours to drive, but that's getting harder and harder, because according to this study, congested peak times in cities now average, if you can believe it, six to seven hours a day.
CHEN: Oh, that's just miserable. Natalie, we know that you are going to work late and then go home on the train, so we know you won't be polluting anymore. Natalie Pawelski with our environment unit, thanks.
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