Monday, August 26, 2019

Everyone’s favorite topic: traffic, on the day it always gets noticeably worse: the first day of school. Why is it so bad and can we do anything to fix it? A closer look.

Traffic! You may be stuck in it right now, especially on this first day of school when busses hit the road and traffic becomes worse than it normally is.

A new urban mobility report from Texas A&M Transportation Institue found we waste about 57 hours a year sitting in Charlotte traffic at a cost to each of us of around $1200.

It’s the result of low unemployment, and newcomers moving here at about 100 per day and bringing their cars. Charlotte’s roads simply haven’t kept pace with growth. Nor could they.

Are we doomed to spend our lives stuck in traffic? And what causes some of these unpredictable backups? Answers to those questions and more.

Guests

Taiwo Jaiyeoba, Assistant City Manager and Planning Director, City of Charlotte

Liz Babson, Director, Charlotte Department of Transportation

Bill Eisele, Senior Research Engineer, Texas A&M Transportation Institute. He is co-author of the Institute’s Urban Moibility Report