Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Congestion

An Alternative to Congestion-Based City Rankings

4:20 PM EST on November 14, 2013

The Texas Transportation Institute's "Annual Mobility Report," which rates highway congestion in major urban areas across the United States, probably gets more press attention than any other piece of transportation research.

A new tool for measuring the efficiency of urban transportation systems takes into account the distance between destinations. Image: ##http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/catalyst/2013/november/accessibility/## CTS Catalyst##
A new tool for measuring the efficiency of urban transportation systems takes into account the distance between destinations, not just driver delay. Image: ##http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/catalyst/2013/november/accessibility/##CTS Catalyst##
A new tool for measuring the efficiency of urban transportation systems takes into account the distance between destinations. Image: ##http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/catalyst/2013/november/accessibility/## CTS Catalyst##

These city rankings assume that urban transportation policy should aspire, first and foremost, to eliminate motorist delay. Many press outlets pick up the report's findings and rush to the conclusion that urban areas need wider roads or more highways. In recent years, critics of the report have convincingly argued that the absence of congestion is a poor benchmark for urban transportation systems. It doesn't even take into account the total amount of time that people spend driving.

An alternative was put forward earlier this year University of Minnesota engineering professor David Levinson. Levinson has developed a system based on "accessibility" rather than congestion. The benefit of Levinson's metric is that it takes into account the distance between destinations, and how that affects the ease of getting where you want to go. This overcomes a crucial weakness in the TTI report, although one drawback of Levinson's measure, currently, is that it only factors in accessibility by car.

Now Levinson's system will come out in a very media-friendly form: annual rankings. Earlier this month the University of Minnesota's "Accessibility Observatory" announced that it will release these city rankings, with support from the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the McKnight Foundation. Hopefully it will get as much attention as TTI's.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Hush That Fuss

New BRT in Denver, the case for reimagining parking lots, and more in today's headlines.

March 29, 2024

Why We Care About Some Transportation Tragedies More Than Others

Why do we respond to major transportation disasters with so much urgency — and why don't we count our collective car crash epidemic among them?

March 28, 2024

The Toll of History: MTA Board Approves $15 Congestion Pricing Fee

New York City's first-in-the-nation congestion pricing tolls are one historic step closer to reality after Wednesday's 11-1 MTA board vote. Next step: all those pesky lawsuits.

March 28, 2024

Take Thursday’s Headlines Home, Country Roads

Heat Map reports on why rural Americans are resisting electric vehicles, and why it might not matter much for the climate.

March 28, 2024
See all posts