Congestion in STL has Changed, Will it Last?

Date Posted: April 13, 2023

Posted In: News, Organizations,

A new Where We Stand Update reports, the St. Louis region stands about in the middle among the peer regions on roadway congestion. This is different than what has been seen in the recent past, when the region has consistently been one of the least congested large metropolitan regions. It is too soon to tell if these effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are temporary or will be a new normal.

In 2020, travel delay on U.S. roadways decreased to about half of what it was in 2019. In early 2021, congestion remained less than it was a decade earlier but was trending back up. In St. Louis, the most significant difference in 2021 has been less congested roadways during the morning rush hour. This is likely due to the recent shift to flexible work hours and more people working from home.

Congestion is a frustrating experience for people and companies trying to arrive at destinations on time. It can also be costly, inflicting an estimated $1.6 billion in time and wasted fuel for residents and companies in St. Louis in 2019. Further, there are negative effects on the environment as automobiles spend more time emitting pollutants. That being said, congestion also has some positive implications, including being a sign of vitality and in some cases increasing the safety and friendliness of areas for non-auto users.

The Where We Stand Update includes nine measures of congestion. Each provides a different perspective. Data are provided for the most recent year available as well as, in many instances, historical data to provide a comparison of pandemic effects with historical trends. Findings include the following:

In 2021, St. Louis had the 5th most reliable interstate system.
On average, a trip in St. Louis took 14 percent longer during rush hour compared to free-flow conditions, one of the lowest levels of congestion among the peer regions in 2019.
In St. Louis, the average auto traveler spent an additional 6.6 hours in 2021 on the national highway system (local roads are not included) during the evening rush hour (3-7 PM) due to congestion. The table on the right shows that St. Louis ranks 32nd on this metric, peak hour excessive delay.
The relatively low score for St. Louis on the truck travel time reliability index, 1.33, ranks 46th among the peer regions, indicating the transportation system in St. Louis is more predictable and reliable than in other major metropolitan regions.
In St. Louis, congestion cost an average of $1,297 per auto traveler in 2019, according to estimates from the Texas Transportation Institute.

Check out the Where We Stand Update for more on where St. Louis stands based on data reported by TTI in the Urban Mobility Report (UMR) and by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) through the National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS).

Since 1992 East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWG) has produced Where We Stand (WWS) to ignite discussion and help guide decision making on a range of topics important to the region. The WWS series presents rankings for St. Louis among the 50 most populous metropolitan areas in the United States. The eighth edition (released in November 2018), data. updates, white papers, and past editions are available at www.ewgateway.org/wws.

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