Report: Traffic congestion signals an improving economy |
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The economy may be getting better, but traffic is getting worse. That's the finding from Inrix, a Kirkland company that tracks traffic flows on the nation's roadways.
The report found that 64 of the top 100 most populated cities in the U.S. experienced increases in traffic congestion recently, with Inrix CEO Bryan Mistele saying congestion levels bottomed out during the second quarter and have started to rise again.
"Traffic is a great indicator of the pulse of the economy and as the economy improves we expect gridlock to head towards 2007’s record levels as people return to work, freight transportation increases, and consumers switch back to vacations from staycations," said Mistele.
Source: Inrix
L.A., New York and Chicago were the most congested cities. Seattle -- which held on to the ranking of ninth worst congestion -- saw traffic decline by eight percent compared to the same time last year. And the worst congestion spot in the Seattle area?
That dubious honor goes to WA-16 approaching Union Avenue in Tacoma, where Inrix found a typical congestion wait of 51 hours per week and and average speed of just 19 miles per hour.
John Cook is co-founder and executive editor of TechFlash. He has been covering the technology beat for nearly a decade, writing about startups, entrepreneurs and venture capital, most recently serving as a reporter/blogger at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
READ FULL BIOGRAPHYMarchex COO Pete Christothoulou is leading the effort to transform the strategy and culture at the company. In this role he clearly sees the people he’s surrounding himself with as a key competitive advantage. Here’s a small sample from a recent Q&A with Pete:
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