Americans Waste 1.9 Billion Gallons of Gas Idling in Traffic, Study Shows
Traffic is a waste. It wastes your time, your car’s life, and most importantly it wastes fuel. Thanks to a push from the Obama administration to invest in roads and infrastructure, the U.S. Treasury Department found out that American drivers are wasting about 1.9 billion gallons of fuel annually while idling in traffic jams.
These traffic jams are courtesy of old infrastructure which hasn’t been maintained to meet demand made by growing traffic volume. The Treasury Department estimates that it would cost $85 billion annually for 20 consecutive years “to bring existing highways and bridges into a state of good repair.” The study also found that 90 percent of drivers in the U.S. spend more than 14 percent of their income on transportation.
Poorly maintained roads costs consumers money by themselves. The Treasury Department estimates that the average driver in Los Angeles spends $746 dollars on vehicle repairs per year thanks to bad road conditions.
The United States spends about two percent of its GDP on infrastructure, which is small compared to most countries.
This data might help the Obama administration in its quest to convince otherwise cantankerous voters to allow for increased infrastructure budgets, though that remains to be seen.
[Source: USA Today]
Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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Yea, the government sees waste here, but yet can't see their own... Hmmm... Something smells funny... Hey, it isn't a waste of fuel! What else is going to power the AC, radio/CD player and charge our cell phones while we text as we sweat out balls off in traffic...