Per Forbes, Raleigh is the nation’s 2nd worst small city in terms of traffic congestion.

The good news? Some common sense — although something which Raleigh has been lacking of late — would suffice to solve the problem:

“In the Charlotte region, 43 percent of available dollars are proposed for highway projects, and the road improvements proposed would alleviate only one-third of the predicted increase in congestion,” [David Hartgen, Professor of Transportation Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte] said. “Raleigh and Durham are allocating 73 percent and 49 percent, respectively, of their dollars to effective projects.” …

North Carolina does not need new funding to address the congestion problem, Hartgen said. “The report recommends using existing planned funds for congestion relief,” he said. “In some cities, ‘balance’ in transportation funding needs to be redefined. Instead of saying that transit programs should get 20-50 percent of funds, modes of transportation should get funds in proportion to their demand.”