Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Being stuck in traffic is more than just annoying. It's costly. A treasury department report says Americans are wasting over $100 billion dollars and 1.9 billion gallons of gasoline each year in lost fuel and time because of traffic congestion.
The "New Economic Analysis of Infrastructure Investment" comes out as Congress and the White House argue over transportation and infrastructure funding. Obama has offered a plan that would increase spending on surface transportation by 80 percent, according to the report While Republicans are weighing a bill that would cost $260 billion.
The report says one out of every seven dollars the average American makes is spent on transportation. The report also found that on average, Americans spend almost $8000 and 14 percent of their budget on transportation costs. That's more than food or health care when paid out of pocket.
Compared to other countries, the US spends little on infrastructure, only 2 percent of GDP compared to 9 percent in China, 5 percent in India, and 5 percent in Europe, according to the report.
It also said that more Americans are using light rail and other forms of public transportation, which have increased yearly ridership from from 8 to 10.4 billion in the last 15 years.
Contributing: David Self Newlin
