All or parts of four major metropolitan statistical areas in Arkansas have traffic congestion that is below the national average, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
But that is hard to square with motorists on those and other major corridors in Arkansas metropolitan areas who face peak commuting times in the mornings and afternoons of a typical workweek, especially when school is in session.
"Perception of congestion is local," said Jim McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan, the long-range transportation planning agency for central Arkansas. "If you can't drive 10 mph above the speed limit, it's congested. But relative to other metro areas, it's not bad at all."
The four major metropolitan statistical areas with populations exceeding 100,000 in Arkansas as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau are:
• Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, which includes Lonoke and Saline counties.
• Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, which includes part of Missouri.
• Memphis, which includes parts of Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.
• Fort Smith, which includes part of Oklahoma.
They are the only parts of Arkansas included in 2013 census data of the 195 metropolitan areas analyzed by The Associated Press.
The 195 metropolitan areas in total have 143 million workers who are 16 or older and don't work at home. In addition to solo drivers, that population includes workers who carpool or use mass transit. They spent an average of 25.8 minutes on their commute, according to the census data.
The more than 597,000 commuters in the largest of the four Arkansas-linked metro areas -- Memphis -- took 24.1 minutes for their work journey, the longest time of the four areas. Its number of workers in that category ranked 42nd among the 195 areas, while its commute time ranked 70th.
The 334,888 workers age 16 or older who don't work at home in Little Rock metro area spent an average of 22.5 minutes commuting to work. The region's worker population ranked 73rd among all the metro areas with populations exceeding 100,000. Its commute time ranked 113th.
The Fayetteville metro area with 223,266 such workers ranked 106th. They spent an average of 20.6 minutes going to work, which ranked 164th.
Fort Smith has 110,231 commuters, ranking it 189th, who spend an average of of 20.4 minutes traveling to work, ranking it 169th.
Most workers in the four Arkansas metro areas drive themselves to and from work, the analysis says. Little Rock and Fort Smith have the highest percentage of workers driving solo: 86 percent. Memphis was next with 84 percent followed by Fayetteville with 82 percent.
Fayetteville had the highest percentage of workers who carpooled: 9.8 percent. Memphis was next with 9.7 percent. In the Fort Smith metro, 8.5 percent of workers shared rides, and in Little Rock the carpool rate was 8.3 percent.
Workers who use mass transit are a small percentage of commuters in all four metros. In the Memphis area, 1.1 percent of the workers take a bus. Little Rock was next at 0.74 percent followed by Fayetteville at 0.6 percent and Fort Smith at 0.07 percent, which ranked last among the 195 metro areas.
While below the national average, the commuting times in the Arkansas metro areas are longer than they used to be, according to McKenzie, who said they will only continue to increase as the populations in the metro areas continue to grow.
The Fayetteville metro area's population is expected to climb 9.2 percent by 2020, to 551,620 people. The Little Rock metro area's population is expected to grow 5.3 percent to 775,669 over the same period.
The population of the Memphis metro area is projected to be 1,390,480 in 2020, or 2.6 percent more than today. The Fort Smith metro area's population is also expected to grow 2.6 percent, to 296,032.
McKenzie said the commute times will increase despite the efforts of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
The department's $1.8 billion road construction program that voters approved in 2012 is designed to help ease congestion on major corridors such as Interstate 49 in Northwest Arkansas and Interstate 30 and Interstate 40 in central Arkansas.
And the agency is again planning to study traffic on I-30 between Little Rock and Benton, which was widened to six lanes 10 years ago.
The study, which is expected to cost $625,000 and begin this summer, will focus on "current needs that can be addressed with low-cost improvements and long-term needs that can be addressed with more significant investment."
Metro on 06/29/2015