Efficient transportation systems provide their users with fast, reliable service and seamless connections between modes of travel. For the most part, the region's highway and transit systems are efficient, but delays and lack of connectivity remain challenges for the region.
Traffic congestion is a fact of life in the NJTPA region. Vehicles on the region's expressways and arterials experience, collectively, about one million hours of delay on a typical weekday – an average of roughly 40 seconds of delay for every mile traveled. That delay amounts to about one third of total vehicle travel time on expressways and arterials. Congestion on the region's arterials (such as Route 9 and Route 17) is far greater than on its expressways (such as the NJ Turnpike), in large part because many arterials are lined with auto-oriented commercial development and have more access and egress points. Congestion is especially great in Hudson and Bergen counties, both of which are densely populated and connected directly to Manhattan. Sussex and Hunterdon counties are the least congested in the region, although some bottlenecks do exist (see map below).
 |
Delay Ratio
Delay is the added travel time that results from traveling in congested conditions. The delay ratio is the amount of delay that vehicles experience while traveling on a road, as a percentage of their total travel time on that road. This map shows the delay ratio for travel in the peak period. |
Congestion in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area has increased by approximately 175 percent from 1982 to 2002. Quite simply, the region's highways are carrying increasingly dense volumes of traffic. On interstate highways throughout New Jersey, vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) per highway lane mile increased by 19 percent from 1994 to 2003. Although congestion has grown rapidly, much of the region's highway system remains relatively uncongested. From the 1930s to the 1980s, an extensive system of highways was built throughout the NJTPA region, representing a massive investment in new road capacity. That system largely has had the capacity to absorb the steady, modest growth in vehicle travel that has occured in subsequent years, though congestion has developed in some areas.
There is a growing realization that regular, everyday congestion cannot be "solved," because it is a normal byproduct of economic activity. A particularly great source of frustration for travelers, however, is "non-recurring" congestion, which stems from incidents such as crashes and vehicle breakdowns, and results in sporadic, unexpected delays. Non-recurring delay amounts to roughly 10 percent of total delay in the NJTPA region. Technology has the potential to mitigate the effects of non-recurring congestion by generating real-time alerts and traveler information about incidents.
Congestion
On interstate highways throughout New Jersey, vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) per highway lane mile increased by 19 percent from 1994 to 2003. |
 |
Transit service also can be unexpectedly delayed, often as a result of congestion, mechanical problems, and passenger-related incidents. On-time performance for NJ Transit services exceeds 90 percent for all rail routes combined and for buses serving Manhattan. Better real-time information about transit service would help travelers to deal more effectively with unanticipated delays.
Park-and-ride lots allow for intermodal connectivity between the region's highway and transit systems. As of mid-2004, park-and-ride facilities were available at 137 NJ Transit rail stations and 45 NJ Transit bus stops in the NJTPA region. These facilities had a combined total of 60,000 parking spaces, 76 percent of which were found to be occupied on a typical weekday. Since then, NJ Transit has added more than 1,500 additional parking spaces, and further parking expansions are planned. Still, parking lots at some transit stations operate at full capacity, and a few stations have waiting lists of up to ten years for parking permits. Lack of park-and-ride capacity may be an obstacle to further ridership growth. (Transit ridership is discussed under Goal 2.)