Has Traffic Spoiled the American Dream?

Sept. 10 -- Atlanta-area commuters lose an average of 53 hours of their lives sitting in traffic delays every year, while Los Angelenos kiss about 56 hours goodbye annually for the same reason.

Metropolitan area dwellers are behind the wheel an average of 90 minutes daily, according to the latest national traffic figures from the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), an agency that collects data on 68 urban areas across the nation.

Atlanta schoolteacher Mary Anna Elsey told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America that she often sits in traffic for 20 minutes at a time on Georgia Highway 400, moving a distance that seems like about five feet. Hands clenched on the wheel, she worries about being late for work.

"I'm a nervous wreck, I mean just an absolute nervous wreck," Elsey said. "In the past year I've developed an ulcer. My doctors have told me, "Get off of 400."

In fact, she might be better off somewhere in South Dakota, according to TTI research. The states with the shortest commutes are those with large and wide-open spaces: Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, and the Dakotas. North Dakota has the lowest average commute, at 15.4 minutes. (Tell us about your commute)

Hazards of Highway Air

The highway Elsey takes, GA 400, is one of Atlanta's many jumbled and jammed highways.

"You're completely stopped on the highway," she said. "You might go, you know, 20 miles an hour for a little while, then slow down to nothing."

It's not just stress that makes commuting in traffic dangerous. Researchers are discovering that breathing highway air is linked to various health problems.

"People are in their cars being exposed directly to diesel exhaust. At the same time we're generating more ozone in the atmosphere, and this is causing more asthma attacks," said Dr. Gerald Teague, head of Emory University's Asthma Clinic.

In the 68 urban areas the TTI studies, congestion cost a total of $78 billion in wasted fuel and lost time in 1999, with an estimated 4.5 billion hours of delay and 6.8 billions of excess fuel consumed. The combined costs are up 39 percent since 1990, TTI said.