Traffic Jam Via Flickr - Hamed Saber

Best Workplaces for Commuters estimates that the daily commute wastes 2.3 billion gallons of fuel as people idle in traffic waiting for the way to clear. According to the Texas Transportation Institute, the cost in wasted time and fuel per commuter was approximately $750 in 2007, a total that amounted to $87.2 billion for the US as a whole.

While we like to encourage people to use alternate modes of transportation as much as possible (telecommuting, public transit, bicycling, waling, carpooling, etc.), it’s good news when we find ways to reduce the congestion and get people moving again. We’ve always assumed that GPS is one of those technologies that will cut down on fuel waste and time.

GPS Via Flickr - Jimmy_Joe

And now, according to a new NAVTEQ study published in August of this year (NAVTEQ is in the business of navigation, so these results should be taken with that in mind), traffic-enabled navigation systems will not only save people time, they’ll cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and wasted money. They estimate that portable, wireless navigation systems equipped with real-time traffic information could save the average US driver the equivalent of four days-worth of time (UK drivers save only 2.5 days). That’s because they can avoid traffic jams and therefore spend about 18 percent less time driving than those without navigation systems.

Greenhouse gas emissions also dropped by about 21 percent, or 0.79 metric tons (about 1,700 pounds) according to the study, which was conducted in Germany. In all, the research totalled data from 2,100 individual trips, logging over 20,000 kilometres (12,427 miles) over nearly 500 hours.

Google Maps for mobile

Systems like Google Maps for mobile are also helping, making real-time traffic information for all US cities available on GPS-enabled phones. The easier the daily commute, the better for us all.