Tackling the Central Texas region's traffic congestion will take a combined effort of building new infrastructure, improving existing roads and encouraging businesses and residents to change their commuting habits.
In the 2013 Mobility Report recently released by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, or TTI, created modeling scenarios of five strategies the region would need to implement by 2035 to improve traffic congestion compared with where it stands today.
Jeremy Martin, the chamber's senior vice president of government relations and regional infrastructure, said one of the region's primary challenges is traffic congestion, which affects its Opportunity Austin economic development strategy designed to promote job creation in Central Texas.
"Traffic is getting worse across the country, but traffic is getting worse here more rapidly," he said June 9 during the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization's transportation policy board meeting. "One of the goals that was set by Opportunity Austin was a challenge to us: What would it take to reduce traffic compared to our current baseline?"
The baseline is the travel time index, which is a ratio that currently stands at 1.31. That means a 30-minute trip in the region would take 31 percent longer. At 1.31, the 30-minute trip takes 39 minutes. By 2035, if the region does nothing to improve congestion, the 30-minute trip would take 65 minutes with a travel time index would increase to 2.17.
"That is simply unacceptable to our members in terms of moving goods and services throughout the region and attracting quality workforce," Martin said.
The five strategies build on each other, Martin said, adding that if one cannot be fully achieved, then more of the other strategies must be implemented.
The first strategy is fully building out all $28.4 billion worth of transportation projects outlined in CAMPO's 2035 long-range plan. This plan includes projects from CAMPO's six-county region of Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson.
The region would also need to increase the number of people telecommuting or working from home by 76,000 employees. Martin said the chamber's chairman Jack McDonald has a goal of increasing this mobile workforce to 15 percent in the next 10 years from its current 6.4 percent.
Other strategies includes flexible work schedules so commuters are not traveling to and from work all at the same time and shifting workers' mode of travel to public transit or bikes. Lastly, the region would need to locate jobs closer to where people live and build residential projects closer to their work.
Next steps
With the report out, Martin said the chamber will be discussing strategies with chamber members to inform them how they can take steps toward the outlined goals.
Approving the projects outlined in the CAMPO 2035 is also critical as well as ensuring land-use policies support opportunities to locate housing near jobs and jobs near housing, Martin said.
The full report may be picked up in the chamber's lobby, located 535 E. Fifth St. in the Hilton Austin Hotel. For more information, visit www.austinchamber.com.
