According to AAA’s biannual Report to the Legislature, motorists have seen their commutes worsening over the last four years. When asked to rate their satisfaction with their regular commutes, 45 percent say their commute has gotten worse. Since 2011, the ‘worse’ rankings have risen from 33 percent to an all-time high of 45 percent in 2015.
Thinking about your daily commute to and from your job, has traffic congestion during your daily commute gotten better, worse, or has it stayed the same over the past two years?
The bad news continues when it comes to the conditions of the roadways. While rankings overall were worse than last year, toll roads — including the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway — received the highest ratings.
AAA released the findings of the report during a press conference at the statehouse with Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg.
Rankings on roadways were fairly consistent throughout the state, with only small geographic differences, except on the local roadways where Central Jersey had significantly more poor ratings.
“Worsening commutes lead to additional time sitting in traffic and impact the quality of life for many New Jerseyans,” said Tracy Noble, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “What we can see is that the years of inadequate funding can clearly be seen by commuters in the deteriorating conditions of the roadways they travel daily.”
Local roadways fared worst of all, with 31 percent ranking them as poor, up from 23 percent in 2014 and nearly doubled since 2003; 40 percent rate local roadways as fair.
“These rankings are a clear result of years of neglect,” said Noble. “Local roadways are vital arteries for residents every day. Finding a way to ensure more transportation dollars are allocated to local roadways is an important part of fixing our infrastructure.”
With over 35,000 centerline miles of roadways, local and county governments are responsible for the transportation infrastructure that carries 55 percent of all traffic. Local roadways account for the majority of these, with towns responsible for 64 percent and counties controlling 22 percent. Together, these agencies are responsible for 39 percent of all bridges.
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