SEATTLE — You're not imagining it, traffic is getting worse in Seattle, and just about everywhere else, too.
The average Seattle commuter wastes about 78 hours a year stuck in traffic, according to a new Texas A&M Mobility Report.
That's compared to the national average commuter who spends 54 hours in congestion.
There's also a price tag associated with those wasted hours.
Individual commuters spend more than $1,000 per year in personal costs, like gasoline, according to the report.
Seattle ranked 7th in the country for the number of hours commuters waste in traffic every year. Los Angeles is number 1, with drivers wasting 119 hours per year, followed by San Francisco and Washington D.C.
The problem is larger than ever, stated the report, which studied congestion trends from 1982 to 2017.
"In 2017, congestion caused urban Americans to travel an extra 8.8 billion hours and purchase an extra 3.3 billion gallons of fuel for a congestion cost of $166 billion."
One of the reasons cited for the increased congestion is a good economy and also a nearly full employment rate, meaning more people are on the roads for work, shopping and more.
