Washington Once Again Makes List Of Nation's Worst Truck Bottlenecks

News provided by

American Transportation Research Institute

Feb 19, 2020, 07:00 ET

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Transportation Research Institute today released its annual list highlighting the most congested bottlenecks for trucks in America, and six Washington locations made the top 100.

The 2020 Top Truck Bottleneck List assesses the level of truck-involved congestion at 300 locations on the national highway system. The analysis, based on truck GPS data from over 1 million heavy duty trucks uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location. ATRI's truck GPS data is also used to support the U.S. DOT's Freight Mobility Initiative. The bottleneck locations detailed in this latest ATRI list represent the top 100 congested locations, although ATRI continuously monitors more than 300 freight-critical locations.

"Washington's vibrant economy moves in our state's trucks," said Washington Trucking Association Executive Vice President Sheri Call. "As our economy grows, as our trade relationships with Canada and across the Pacific improve, congestion will be a threat to put the brakes on our economic prosperity unless we address our crumbling infrastructure. Congestion ultimately impacts the cost of goods being hauled on trucks held up by needless delays – the cost of doing nothing is one we all pay."

The six bottlenecks in Washington are:

No. 34 Vancouver: I-5 at Columbia River
No. 35 Tacoma: I-5 at I-705/SR 16
No. 39 Federal Way: SR 18 at I-5
No. 44 Seattle: I-5 at I-90
No. 60 Auburn: SR 18 at SR 167
No. 76 Seattle: I-90 at I-405

"ATA has been beating the drum about the continued degradation of our infrastructure, and thanks to ATRI's research we can see exactly how decades of ignoring the problem are impacting not just our industry but our economy and commuters everywhere," said American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear. "This report should sound the alarm for policymakers that the cost of doing nothing is too high, and provide a roadmap of where to target investments to really solve our nation's mounting infrastructure crisis."

For access to the full report, including detailed information on each of the 100 top congested locations, please visit ATRI's website at TruckingResearch.org.

ATRI is the trucking industry's 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation's essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.

SOURCE American Transportation Research Institute