“For the average American driver, the time wasted in traffic jams has more than doubled in 30 years,” reports Eleanor Randolph in the New York Times. “The best way of easing that gridlock — not to mention saving gas, curbing pollution and finally finishing that novel — is public transit.”
Two simple sentences; two complicated lies. Has the time wasted in traffic jams more than doubled? Congestion has increased, says the Texas Transportation Institute. But the Census Bureau reports that average commute times are not much different today than they were 30 years ago. In fact, between 2000 and 2006, average commute times actually declined.
Is transit the best way of saving people time? Hardly; transit is far slower than driving, even in traffic, a conclusion that can be drawn partly from the fact that New York City, which has the highest rate of transit commuting, also has the longest commute times of any major city in the nation.
