Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003 | 11:24 a.m.
A national traffic report has confirmed what most residents already suspected: Las Vegas is one of the top 20 urban areas with the heaviest congestion.
The report shows the average Las Vegas resident -- every man, woman and child -- spent 16 hours stuck in traffic in 2001. That's two hours less than they spent in vehicles in 2000 but four hours longer than in 1990.
"I think it seems like more than 16 hours a year," said William Hughes Jr. 38, headed home on Tuesday to Summerlin from Henderson. "It's-- more like 16 hours a month. The traffic here is ridiculous because it takes you an hour to get somewhere that's 10 minutes away. You'd think taking side roads might help, but there's always an accident backing things up that way."
When viewed as it relates to drivers alone and not passengers, the report bears out Hughes' observation: Researchers found commuters wasted 51 hours -- just over two days -- in time added to the average cross-town trip of 25 minutes in 2001. That was a slight decrease from 2000, but not enough to be obvious to drivers, said David Schrank co-author of the 2003 Urban Mobility report released in Washington on Tuesday.
The 24-hour Strip, with a combination of tourists, construction and night shift worker traffic, does not help.
"The only time you can catch a break around here is very early in the morning," said Chriselda Dizon, who lives east of the Strip near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "I thought that late night hours would be better too, but that's when all the construction goes on."
For some, traffic is a part of daily life.
"I have to commute to the Strip area every day from the northwest side of town. No matter what kind of shortcut I try, I wind up stuck in traffic," Melissa Kennedy, a University of Nevada medical student, said. "It's like you have to incorporate the traffic into your everyday schedule."
Scott Magruder, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Transportation, the state is evaluating several options on how to relieve traffic, including coordinated traffic lights, carpool lanes and ramp metering, which regulates access to freeways, he said.
The Freeway and Arterial System of Transportation center, which will be located in the $15 million Nevada Highway Patrol headquarters currently under construction, will help improve traffic, he said.
Already the Freeway Service Patrol has eased some problems, Magruder said. The vans that patrol the freeways eliminate stopped cars on the shoulder as soon as possible to avoid accidents and delays by other drivers slowing down.
Tim Lomax, the report's other author, said such systems, as well as more public transportation, have have kept a bad situation from getting worse nationwide. For example, traffic signal coordination aimed at smoothing the flow of cars, trucks and buses saved commuters 16 million hours across the nation, the report said.
But facts in a report do not always translate to what a commuter can experience.
"Traffic is a pain anywhere in Vegas," Linasha Smith, 22, who lives in Green Valley but commutes to the Venetian. "There's either construction or an accident causing major rubbernecking. I'm stuck on (Interstate) 15 sometimes in what must be a major accident up ahead, then it turns out to be a flat tire or something minor.
"But I know it could be worse," she said. "I'm from New York and never even had a car before I moved here. Now I wish I could ride the subway again."
Sue Christiansen, public information coordinator for the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, agreed there are hours of traffic delays in Southern Nevada, but the population demand on the transit system is growing faster than the system.
The state approved $2.7 billion that over the next 25 years will go toward transportation improvements. Those improvements are aimed at decreasing traffic delays. The commission also intends to increase bus service hours from 1.1 million to 1.8 million over the next seven years, Christiansen said.
Completing the Las Vegas Beltway, adding reader board signs on freeways and a pilot program, Metropolitan Area Express vehicles, will also help, she said.
"They're trying to be accommodating but they're never going to be able to keep up," said Erin Breen, director of the Safe Community Partnership at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. "The Regional Transportation Commission is putting money and investing in the right things to help get people out of their cars. That's the only things that going to help."
Breen said traffic in Las Vegas is terrible and a price paid for the tremendous population growth in the area.
"The only thing that can make a difference is people getting smarter about how they use their vehicles," Breen said. "Those are the types of things that's going to get us off the tops of these lists."'
Until then drivers will have to continue to fend for themselves.
"I was born here so I am pretty used to the traffic by now," said Amy Freitas who lives west of the Strip. "I've learned every shortcut and side street around. ... You have to just get used to it and allot time to your travel to deal with the traffic.
"Just be glad you don't live in LA," she added. "My friends there sit in traffic twice as long as we do here."
Los Angeles ranked number one in the report.
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