New report: Road congestion wastes 1.9 billion gallons of gas

— -- As Americans pay about $4 per gallon for gasoline, they're wasting 1.9 billion gallons of it annually in traffic on congested roads, a new Treasury Department report says.

Traffic congestion costs drivers more than $100 billion annually in wasted fuel and lost time, according to the report released Friday.

The report — released in support of President Obama's plan to upgrade and expand America's transportation infrastructure in fiscal year 2013 — comes as Republican presidential candidates criticize Obama for high gasoline prices and his administration and the Senate wrestles with House Republicans over a new transportation bill.

The White House supports a two-year, $109 billion transportation and infrastructure bill approved March 14 by the Senate.

House Republicans are divided over a five-year, $260 billion bill. The House votes Monday on a temporary extension to continue providing highway and transit aid to states as the spring constructions season begins.

Poor conditions of roads cost the average motorist who regularly drives in cities more than $400 annually in additional vehicle maintenance, the new Treasury Department report says.

Motorists in the metropolitan San Jose area pay $756 annually in extra maintenance because of poor roads — more than any urban area. Poor roads, the report says, cost $746 extra in yearly maintenance for Los Angeles area motorists and $640 for motorists in the New York-Newark area.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, says the Treasury Department report is "the latest reminder that it's time to stop the partisan bickering in Washington and invest in our nation's infrastructure."

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, did not comment on the report. "We haven't yet fully reviewed this yet," says committee spokesman Justin Harclerode.

Other report findings:

•An annual investment of $85 billion over the next 20 years would be required, according to the Department of Transportation, "to bring existing highways and bridges into a state of good repair."

•For 90% of Americans, the report says, transportation costs absorb $1 of every $7 of income.

The average American family spends more than $7,600 annually on transportation — more than it spends on food and twice what it spends on out-of-pocket health care costs, according to the report.

•During the past 15 years, there was a sharp increase in transit system ridership from nearly 8 billion in 1996 to 10.4 billion in 2011.

A main factor in the growth was increased ridership in heavy and light rail, which had a combined ridership growth of more than 70%.

•America invests less in transportation infrastructure than other countries.

The United States spends about 2% of the gross domestic product on infrastructure. China, India and Europe spend about 9%, 8% and 5% of GDP, respectively, on infrastructure.