Stop/Start Technology Hedge Against Cost of Gridlock?

Stop/start technology could mitigate the soaring rate of fuel waste caused by the gridlock paralyzing U.S. roadways, says the co-author of the Texas Transportation Institute’s 2011 Urban Mobility Report.

Urban congestion in 2010 kept Americans behind the wheel for an additional 4.8 billion hours, says the report released today.

’12 Buick LaCrosse among growing list of vehicles with stop/start.

The effect: Motorists were forced to buy an extra 1.9 billion gallons (8.6 million L) of fuel, the equivalent of two months of steady flow from the Alaska pipeline.

Left unchecked, the situation will see wasted fuel increase to 2.5 billion gallons (11.4 million L) by 2015, and 3.2 billion gallons (14.5 million L) by 2020.

While the report does not forecast the potential impact of emerging technologies, study co-author David Schrank suggests stop/start systems portend some reduction in wasted fuel. “You would expect it to make at least a dent,” he tells WardsAuto.

Johnson Controls, a leading supplier of key stop/start technology components, projects proliferation in Europe, China and North America will increase to more than 90 million units by 2020. Fewer than 10 million vehicles now feature stop/start.

A mainstay in gas-electric hybrids, the technology rapidly is finding its way into vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines. Among those vehicles are mass-market offerings from Mazda to premium-level Buicks to high-end Mercedes-Benz models.

“The problem will not go away by itself – action is needed,” says the report, compiled using data from INRIX, a Washington-based provider of global-traffic services.

Adds Schrank, “If there’s something you can do that works, implement it.”

The combined cost of wasted time and fuel siphoned $101 billion from the wallets of American motorists, the report says. In 2010 dollars, that’s nearly five times the cost incurred in 1982.

And “rush hour” is no longer, the report adds. In the largest urban centers, peak traffic periods lasted some six hours. About 40% of delays occur in the midday and overnight hours, posing a significant challenge for businesses that rely on just-in-time delivery.

But there is no silver bullet to solve the problem. Each city will require a different solution.

“If you invest in roads and transit, you get better service and access to more jobs,” says co-author Tim Lomax. “Traffic management and demand management should be part of the mix, too. Generally speaking, mobility investments in congested areas have a high return rate.”

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