SAN ANTONIO — Many people have already hit the highways for Thanksgiving. But if you haven't you may be pleased to hear about a new study conducted by Texas A&M University that found your travel time may not be as long as you think.
As our population and economy continue to grow, there's a considerable need for more projects, and this report helps guide TxDOT to areas that need it the most, while also recognizing areas where there is too much of a delay.
"I feel like it has been pretty gnarly recently," said JP Taylor who lives in San Antonio, but does he best to avoid travel between here and Austin or Dallas. "There has definitely been a lot of construction recently and it has definitely been clogging up things," Taylor said.
The TTI study looked at the Top 100 Congested Roadways. It found that the number of miles traveled by the average driver increased by seven percent in the last five years. But, traffic delays actually went down seven percent in the same period. The study also found that saved commuters an estimated $915 million in time and fuel costs.
Even with the good news Taylor says he will still try to keep the rubber off the road up and down I-35 until the work is complete.
"Not frequently in that area generally speaking. It is just a disaster with all of the construction to be honest," Taylor said.
Out of all of the major cities in Texas, San Antonio added few miles of travel and took off more delay time, and saved more money for each driver than the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. But San Antonio also saved less money per driver than Houston and Austin.
Taylor's advice to holiday drivers is to look out for debris and slow down.
"Be careful. Just be very careful. Use your seatbelt and drive safe, you know," he said.
