HOUSTON, Tex. — The soft economy and recent high fuel prices may have taken some vehicles off the road across America, but traffic congestion is expected to thicken once again when the economy picks back up, according to a report issued by the Texas Transportation Institute.

The 2009 Urban Mobility Report outlines critical steps that can be taken to improve traffic, including adding capacity in critical corridors.

According to the study, traffic is affecting America’s 439 urban areas, and has gotten worse.

While the rising cost of fuel in the last half of 2007 contributed to slight declines in traffic, the year still saw an increase of over $100 million from 2006 because of high fuel prices and truck delay.

"This change would be more hopeful if it was associated with something other than rising fuel prices (which occurred for a short time in 2005 and 2006 before the sustained increase in 2007 and 2008) and a slowing economy," the report said.

The American Trucking Associations released a statement saying the report shows that "it’s time to get serious about highway infrastructure investment."

While public transportation could supplement highway capacity expansion on certain corridors in densely populated areas, ATA said, "highway improvements are the only viable, cost-effective solution to addressing congestion in the vast majority of U.S. communities."

To address the impending traffic issues, the report outlined the following recommendations:

"Get as much service as possible from what we have." In other words, low-cost improvements can go a long way, such as rapidly removing crashed vehicles, timing the traffic signals so that more vehicles see green lights, improving road and intersection designs, or adding a short section of roadway.

Change the usage patterns: Things like flexible work hours, internet connections or phones allow employees to choose work schedules that not only meet their needs, but also reduce traveling in "rush hours."

Add capacity in critical corridors: Enough said,

— Via Truckinginfo.com