The most recent issue of E-motion featured an article in USA Today that described the negative impact that the highway funding crisis has caused in terms of the quality of life. It described how many American motorists are sacrificing family and personal time in order to avoid the increasing traffic congestion in many parts of the country.

Just as we were wrapping up that issue, the Texas Transportation Institute, a research arm of Texas A&M University, issued its 2007 Urban Mobility Report, which translated the traffic congestion issue into dollars and cents and lost time. The numbers are startling.

According to the report, traffic congestion costs Americans $78 billion a year, threatening the country's economic viability. It causes urban residents to spend an extra 4.2 billion hours in traffic, and it costs the average commuter $710 per year.

The average urban commuter now spends 38 hours per year -- nearly a full work week -- stuck in traffic. That compares with just 14 hours per year in 1982, which quantifies what we all know anecdotally to be true: that traffic congestion continues to worsen.

The study examined the country's 85 largest metropolitan areas. It found that travel in those areas had more than doubled in the last 20 years, while capacity on freeways and major streets has grown just 45 percent. A 30 percent increase in public transportation ridership during that period has done little to stem the congestion tide.

Another conclusion verified that travel times are becoming increasingly unreliable, due to the combination of congestion, traffic accidents, vehicle breakdowns, weather, poorly timed traffic signals and major public events. Additionally, congestion is creeping steadily into rural areas.

"The report points out that there is no single solution to congestion," said PHIA President Ron Drnevich. "Depending on the location, it could be a mix of several things -- improved highway capacity, expanded public transit, better traffic engineering, congestion tolling, flexible work hours, telecommuting, etc.

"However, one thing is certain: the continuing transportation funding gaps, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, will cause the problem to worsen. We need to develop a shared vision of our future mobility and provide the resources required to achieve it."