Gridlock isn’t just wasting your time — it’s draining your wallet, too.
Big Apple drivers lose about $1,281 each year because they’re stuck in traffic jams, according to a new study.
The region’s commuters spend an average of 59 hours a year stuck in traffic jams, say researchers at Texas A&M University.
They based their cost estimates on two factors: subjectively valuing New Yorkers’ personal time at $16.79 per hour and the estimated cost of the gasoline they burned waiting in traffic.
But it could be worse.
Motorists in Washington, DC, Los Angeles and San Francisco all waste more time sitting in traffic.
And between 2007 and 2011, the average time New York motorists spent stuck in traffic jams decreased by seven hours.
That helped the average cost of New Yorkers’ delays to drop by $101, the researchers found.
They blame the decrease on the recession; economic downturns curb the number of people who commute to work.
There are signs that as the economy slowly improves, commuting is taking longer and getting more expensive.
From 2009 to 2011, costs and delays edged up.
“It’s slowly, gradually getting worse again,” said David Schrank, a co-author of the study.
But worsening traffic is at least a sign of economic improvement.
“The day that we can say that we are recovering from the recession is the day that these numbers will start picking up like they used to,” Schrank said.
New Yorkers’ traffic-jam dollar costs are 57 percent higher than the national average of $818.
And the length of time area commuters spend stuck in traffic is 55 percent higher than the national average of 38 hours, according to the report.
Nationwide, “fuel wasted in congested traffic reached a total of 2.9 billion gallons — enough to fill the New Orleans Superdome four times,” the report said.
And drivers should be thankful for the city’s expansive network of trains, buses and ferries.
Eliminating the region’s public-transit systems would add 73 hours to motorists’ average yearly commute times, the study found.
“As bad as traffic jams are, it’s even more frustrating that you can’t depend on traffic jams being consistent from day to day,” said researcher Bill Eisele. “This unreliable travel is costly for commuters and truck drivers moving goods.”
More highway lanes and better train service are obvious ways to curb commuting time, the study says.
Designing cities and neighborhoods so people can walk or bike to work can also help.