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U.S. traffic congestion dropped 30% in 2011

You forgot to mention Atlanta. Metro Atlanta has one of the worst traffic congestion. Now the "leaders" want everyone to pay one cent tax to raise BILLIONS of dollars to "improve" upon this congestion by "repairing" and making "Certain" changes to the existing roads. They removed the HOV lanes on I-85 and made them into toll HOT lanes (against the loud protests of the people). Unfortunately the state government is awfully corrupted. There are no bike lanes, no mention of mass transit beyond basic minimum that was laid about 20 years ago. It is well known that our governor is not the smartest man on this planet. Atlanta has had a dramatic increase in the number of people moving to Georgia during the past 15 years. The roads have remained the same. The number of children developing childhood asthma has also increased in our state. I hope and pray people reject this "tax" and demand that the state government make plans for mass transit and car pooling. They will need to seriously think about abolishing the HOT lanes as they do not work.

...but mainly because my county has been already been paying that tax for decades. I don't see why I should pay even more now just so that other other counties can play catch-up.

The HOT lanes are a fiasco, and still they are talking about extending them into downtown and up 75. It's absurd that I should be made to pay to use lanes that I already paid for.

Perhaps with the exception of midtown/downtown, bike lanes are a pipe dream in Atlanta. Most of Atlanta is too hilly for most people to consider bicycles as viable transportation for any meaningful distance. Bicycles will never meaningfully compete with autos in Atlanta.

Atlanta's problem is that they were >25 years behind the ball on planning for growth, and now it's too late. The development that has happened in the last 20 years makes building the roads needed impossible.

What Atlanta needs is a truly regional transportation authority. MARTA needs to be purged and replaced by people who will run with the needs of their customers in mind, instead of the needs of the politicians and its own employees. (MARTA now shows complete contempt for its customers; I rarely use it anymore)

I've traveled there once. The two words? NEVER AGAIN.