Reasonable guess at rush hours’ cost

“The average Atlanta resident ... spends an extra $924 each year in additional gasoline and wasted time.” Citizens for Transportation Mobility in a flier mailed on or about April 14

“The average Atlanta resident ... spends an extra $924 each year in additional gasoline and wasted time,” Citizens for Transportation Mobility wrote in a flier that began to fill the mailboxes of many residents in mid-april.

That’s about enough money to buy a fairly nice flat-screen television or two nights in the Deluxe Room at the St. Regis hotel in Buckhead or season tickets on the Terrace View level for the Atlanta Braves.

There’s plenty to do with $924, but does it really cost us that much additional money each year when we’re tapping our brakes trying to get to and from work? Politifact Georgia went on the road in search of answers.

Citizens for Transportation Mobility is hoping this statistic and other information the group has shared will encourage enough drivers to support a 1 percent sales tax to fund dozens of transportation projects it believes will improve traffic throughout the region. A vot- er referendum will be on the July 31 ballot.

Citizens for Transportation Mobility spokeswoman Saba Long sent Politifact Georgia a report by the Texas Transportation Institute that it used as the basis for the claim. Since 1982, the institute has released an annual Urban Mobility Report that examines traffic in hundreds of American cities and metropolitan areas. The

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