New report says traffic delays cost Louisville drivers hundreds of dollars every year

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Just about everyone deals with traffic on a daily basis, but a new report is shedding light on just how much money that traffic costs.

It's fair to say most drivers in Louisville sit in traffic on major interstates. A report from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute says the average U.S. driver spends 54 hours a year in congested traffic.

Louisville, however, ranks below that average.

Trimarc monitors Louisville traffic every second of the day and company representatives say it's no secret the city sees its fair share of congestion.

The report claims the average Louisville driver sits in traffic for about 46 hours a year. That's about $660 in wasted gas and time.

Most of that congestion is between the hours of 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Trimarc agrees with that, but also says congestion for the city is pretty heavy during the morning commute too -- 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

"I believe it's a number of people trying to occupy a small amount of space at the same time," said Rickie Boller, a spokesperson for Trimarc. "Wrecks do contribute to it. In the evening congestion period, people may be paying a little less attention, I don't know if it's distracted driving, but we do have wrecks that contribute to that as well."

While the report doesn't go into detail on where most of the problem traffic areas are, Trimarc notices a trend on major interstates and the Spaghetti Junction area.

To view the report, CLICK HERE.