The United States Census Bureau 2007 “National Data Book” is online. And it has some interesting information about traffic congestion (see 1078 – Roadway Congestion: 2003) in Las Vegas.

• Las Vegas’ annual cost per person due to traffic congestion is $279; the national average is $422.
• Our annual delay per person is 16 hours; the national average is 25 hours.
• Part of the perception of our problems is that we have a higher than average miles of freeway travel per lane-mile of freeway, probably because we’re more spread out than most cities our size (Las Vegas is 17,062 per day compared with the national average of 16,206).

Here is a direct link to the Census Bureau spreadsheet that includes this data.

After a ten year hiatus from performing federally suggested “cost-benefit” analysis, the Nevada Department of Transportation (under new director Susan Martinovich) released new analysis results during the 2007 legislative session. You can see the worksheet here.

One of the projects, the Boulder City bypass, actually has a negative return on investment and clearly should not be built.

Another revelation: the “I-15 North” project, which was started around the beginning of 2008, ranks lower in priority than the “I-15 South” project. The highest ranked project, US 95, was completed in 2007.

Here is the Federal Highway Administration’s “Toolbox for Regional Policy Analysis” website, which includes a section specifically on cost-benefit analysis.

Nevada’s Department of Transportation stopped using cost-benefit analysis ten years ago. No one can say why. But without such analysis, DOT’s wish list of projects that comprise its “deficit” cannot be objectively evaluated.