TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

January/February 2005

Bay Area Freeways Record Third Straight Year of Reduced Congestion

New State of the System Data Also Reveal Shake-Up in Top 10 Traffic Hot Spots

Traffic on Bay Area freeways flowed more freely in 2003 than in any year since 1998, according to the latest congestion-monitoring data jointly prepared by Caltrans and MTC. Underscoring both the impact of freeway improvement projects and the lingering sluggishness of the Bay Area economy at that time, the daily number of vehicle hours of delay due to congestion in the nine-county region dropped by 18 percent in 2003, after a 5 percent dip in 2002 and a 12 percent decline in 2001.

The overall decline in congestion also was marked by a shake-up
in the annual list of the Bay Area’s top 10 traffic hot spots (see “Facts & Figures”). While the morning slog to the Bay Bridge on Interstate 80 remained the region’s most notorious congestion location in 2003, three afternoon commutes moved into the top 10 for the first time. These include southbound U.S. 101 from University Avenue in East Palo Alto to Shoreline Boulevard in Mountain View (number 7); eastbound State Route 24 from Interstate 580 to the Caldecott Tunnel in Oakland (number 8); and eastbound Interstate 580 east of Livermore Avenue to east of Greenville Road (number 10). Three of the Bay Area’s 10 worst congestion locations are now along Interstate 580 in eastern Alameda County.

All three locations that fell off the top 10 list in 2003 were morning commutes into the Silicon Valley. These include southbound Interstate 680 over the Sunol Grade (which ranked number 8 in 2002 and among the top three from 1998 to 2001); westbound State Route 84 from Newark Boulevard to the Dumbarton Bridge toll plaza (previously number 10); and southbound Interstate 880 from Thornton Avenue to Dixon Landing Road (previously number 2). Delays in these sections likely were reduced not only by the economic chill in the South Bay, but also by several new freeway projects that came on line in late 2002 or in 2003.

Among these improvements are the high-occupancy-vehicle lane along southbound Interstate 680; the widening of the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, which attracted westbound motorists who previously crossed the Dumbarton Bridge; and the reconstruction of the Interstate 880/Dixon Landing Road interchange near the Alameda/Santa Clara County line.

On average, the congestion data show that vehicles collectively spent 121,800 hours per weekday in congested conditions (defined as average speeds below 35 miles per hour for 15 minutes or longer) on Bay Area freeways in 2003. This is far below the 177,600 hours per day recorded in 2000 at the height of the region’s technology-charged economic boom.

“These figures present a snapshot of where we were in 2003, not necessarily where we are today,” cautioned MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger. Noting that recent growth in the Bay Area economy has been accompanied by anecdotal reports of increased traffic, Heminger surmised that, “When we compile the data for 2004, we may see that 2003 marked a low point for both the economy and for time spent stuck in traffic.”
— John Goodwin

Contents