Number of cars up by 47% past 10 years

KXAN (AUSTIN) - Bike lanes, MetroRail and pedestrian walkways have all been built or planned in recent years to help alleviate vehicle traffic in Travis County.

That is why new data from the county tax office is so troubling.

“It is a potentially problematic trend,” said Todd Heminson with Project Connect.

In 2002, there were 643,976 registered vehicles for the 830,000 people who lived in Travis County.

Ten years later, there are 945,270 registered vehicles and nearly 1.06 million people.

The amount of vehicles on Travis County roads are up 47 percent, outpacing the 27 percent growth in population.

It is a trend that goes directly opposite of what is happening across the country.

“Why they are going up here is something we will have to study more and think about,” said Heminson.

Project Connect is a collaborative effort between several transportation agencies in the area. Part of their goal is to get those numbers turned in the opposite direction but Heminson does not think more highways will be the answer.

“You cannot really build your way out of congestion. The funds are not there and the public willingness is not there to build more roads," he said.

Hemingson believes changes in vehicle registration and also suburbanization over the past decade may contribute to the contrast in numbers.