ATRI List Shows U.S. Congestion Getting Worse

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released its annual list of the top truck bottlenecks in the United States.

The 2020 Top Truck Bottleneck List assesses the impact of traffic congestion on truck-borne freight at 300 specific locations on the national highway system. The congestion impact ranking for each location is calculated by using GPS data from more than one million heavy-duty trucks, several customized software applications and analysis methods, as well as terabytes of data from trucking operations.

For the second year in a row, the intersection of I-95 and SR 4 in Fort Lee, New Jersey tops the list. The location is in the shadows of the George Washington Bridge, which is where many vehicles slowly creep into New York City. The top 10 locations on the list, in descending order, are:

1. Fort Lee, NJ: 1-95 at SR 4

2. Atlanta, Georgia: I-285 at I-85 (North)

3. Nashville, Tennessee: I-24/I-40 at I-440 (East)

4. Houston, Texas: I-45 at I-69/US 59

5. Atlanta, Georgia: I-75 at I-285 (North)

6. Chicago, Illinois: I-290 at I-90/I-94

7. Atlanta, Georgia: I-20 at I-285 (West)

8. Cincinnati, Ohio: I-71 at I-75

9. Los Angeles, California: SR 60 at SR 57

10. Los Angeles, California: I-710 at I-105

ATRI’s analysis, which utilized data from 2019, also found that the number of locations experiencing significant congestion – with average daily speeds of 45 MPH or less – has increased 92% in the past five years, far outpacing the 10% growth in traffic congestion for that same time period.

According to ATRI research findings, the annual cost to the trucking industry as a result of congestion on the nation’s highways is $74.5 billion, and 1.2 billion hours of trucking industry productivity are lost due to congestion. This is the equivalent of 425,533 truck drivers sitting idle for an entire year.

The ATRI says that measuring the performance of freight movement across our nation’s highways is critical to understanding where and at what level investment should be made. The annual analysis empowers decision-making in the private and public sectors by helping stakeholders better understand the severity of congestion and mobility constraints on the U.S. highway transportation system, which is of particular importance as the nation weighs the needs and resources available for transportation funding.

To read the full report, including detailed information on each of the 100 top congested locations, please visit ATRI's website.