Xr12-38 Traffic congestion seems to worsen each year. This raises the question, How much does roadway congestion cost the United States annually?

The Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Performance Monitoring System conducts an analysis to produce an estimate of the total cost. Drivers in the 73 most congested areas in the United States were sampled, and each driver’s congestion cost in time and gasoline was recorded. The total number of drivers in these 73 areas was 128,000,000. Estimate with 95% confidence the total cost of congestion in the 73 areas.

(Adapted from the Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2006, Table 1082.)