Performance
The physical capacity of the U.S. transportation system has not kept pace with growth in travel and commerce. The resulting congestion and delays have significant impacts on passengers and freight shippers.
Road Congestion
Notes:
Annual hours of delay per car commuter - The extra time spent during the year traveling at congested speeds rather than free-flow speeds by private vehicle drivers and passengers who typically travel in the peak periods. The Methodology to calculate congestion performance measures was updated to reflect more comprehensive data collection using INRIX data for each of the 494 U.S. urban areas. The congestion estimates for all study years are recalculated every time the methodology is altered to provide a consistent data trend. For a detailed explanation of the updated methodology, see the Urban Mobility Report at http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/report/ .
Source:
Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Urban Mobility Report, available at https://mobility.tamu.edu/umr/report/ .
Top 10 Metropolitan Area Congestion Rankings: 2020
Key: MSA = Metropolitan Statistical Area
Notes:
Minutes of congestion - the amount of time when freeways operate less than 90 percent of free-flow freeway speeds. Calculated by calendar year for an average duration of daily congestion.
Source:
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Urban Congestion Report, personal communication.
U.S. Airport On-time Performance
Notes:
Flights arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival time are on time.
Source:
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Airline On-Time Performance, available at https://transtats.bts.gov/ .
U.S. Major Airport Delays by Cause: 2021
Key: NAS = Delays attributable to the national aviation system (NAS) that refer to a broad set of conditions, such as non-extreme weather, airport operations, heavy traffic volume, and air traffic control.
Notes:
Extreme weather includes weather events that prevent flying. Other weather delays that slow operations are included under other categories. Aircraft arriving late delay resulting from a previous flight with the same aircraft arriving late.
Sources:
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Airline On-Time Performance, available at https://transtats.bts.gov/ .
U.S. Major Airport Performance Rankings: 2020
Note:
Flights arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival time are on time.
Source:
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Airline On-Time Performance, available at http://transtats.bts.gov/.
Amtrak On-Time Performance
Notes:
On-time performance is a percentage measure of train performance. A train is considered on-time if it arrives at the final destination, or end-point, within an allowed number of minutes, or tolerance, of its scheduled arrival time. Trains are allowed a certain tolerance at the end-point based on the number of miles traveled.
Trip Length On-time Tolerance
0-250 miles 10 minutes
251-350 miles 15 minutes
351-450 miles 20 minutes
451-550 miles 25 minutes
>551 miles 30 minutes
Source:
As cited in U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics, table 1-73, available at www.bts.gov/nts.
Amtrak Delays by Cause: FY2020
Notes:
Other incudes delays not attributable to Amtrak or other host railroads, such as customs and immigration, law enforcement action, weather, or waiting for scheduled departure time.
Source:
As cited in U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics, table 1-73, available at www.bts.gov/nts.