Think traffic congestion in metro Denver is a headache now? Prepare for a migraine that won’t go away, unless new technologies provide some relief or transportation funding becomes a higher priority.

The time that drivers can expect to lose in traffic delays will shoot up from 33 hours a year currently to 56 hours by 2040, predicts an annual report on roadway congestion from the Denver Regional Council of Governments.

But that represents an average. Those who travel in the middle of rush hour on crowded routes already lose much more time, and their torment will only deepen.

“We are still estimating congestion will get worse as the region’s population continues to grow by another 1 million people over the next 20 years,” said Ron Papsdorf, director of transportation planning and operations at DRCOG.

The miles of lanes in metro Denver congested for three hours or more a day is expected to nearly double by 2040, from 1,489 lane miles to 2,819.

The economic costs associated with those delays are expected to shoot up from just under $1.7 billion a year to nearly $3 billion a year by 2040.

As crowded as the roads have gotten, things would be even worse absent a drop in the average number of miles traveled in a vehicle (VMT) compared to the last decade.

More people are working from home, locating closer to their jobs or living along transit lines than in the past. That’s been aided by heavy apartment construction in central Denver and the DTC area.

Consumers are using Uber and Lyft much more frequently, even to the point of abandoning car ownership. More people are zipping around on scooters, although what that means for congestion, other than on sidewalks, isn’t clear yet.

Per capita VMT actually declined last year in metro Denver, and it remains below the highs reached in 2007, before the last recession.

So why is traffic getting worse? A lot more vehicles are on the road in metro Denver, and Papsdorf said transportation investments haven’t kept pace with population gains.

Metro Denver’s population has risen by 8% the past five years and is expected to grow by a third, from 3.28 million last year to 4.37 million in 2040.

The report doesn’t try to guess at what changes new technologies might bring. Online shopping and ride-sharing services, for example, have likely reduced the time some people spend driving.

Over the next two decades, self-driving vehicles should become widespread. Cars in the future will be able to drive within six inches of each other at highway speeds, making more efficient use of the lanes available, and they can reroute to avoid jams.

Even now, technologies such as lane assist and automatic braking, are expected to reduce accidents. And the rollout of 5G wireless should have a big impact on traffic management.

Denver’s chief information officer David Edinger, speaking at a conference on 5G wireless technology earlier this month, said a single emergency vehicle responding to a call on Colorado Boulevard after 3 p.m. will result in snarled traffic on that route until 8 p.m.

But faster wireless technology will allow the city to better measure traffic flows and adjust traffic signals accordingly, providing for much faster recovery times.

Still, Papsdorf said the system remains constrained. Gasoline tax rates, for example, haven’t increased in the state since the 1990s, despite significant improvements in fuel efficiency.

“The report gives us information at a point in time and gives us tools to help us rethink our strategies and our choices about how to help people get around the region,” he said.

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