The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M University recently released an update to the Urban Mobility Report.  This report, which includes data through 2009, details traffic congestion in metropolitan areas throughout the United States including Hampton Roads. 
According to the Urban Mobility Report, each person who commutes to work by automobile in Hampton Roads spent an average of 32 hours stuck in congestion in 2009.  This is down from the middle of the last decade, when Hampton Roads commuters annually spent 40+ hours stuck in congestion according to TTI.  Much of this decrease in congestion can be attributed to the effects of the economic downturn, as well as fewer crashes occurring throughout the region.
In spite of this decrease, Hampton Roads still has a higher congestion level than many other metropolitan areas.  Among 30 large metropolitan areas throughout the United States with populations between one and three million people, Hampton Roads had the 11th highest delay per commuter in 2009.
This delay has a cost in terms of lost time, wasted fuel, and impacts on commercial vehicles.  According to TTI, congestion cost the Hampton Roads region a total of $714 million in 2009, or an average of $695 for each person that commutes to work by automobile.
For more information on the TTI Urban Mobility Report, please visit the Urban Mobility Report website at http://mobility.tamu.edu.