U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Vehicle Technologies Program

Fact #99: September 13, 1999
Most Important Transportation Problem in 2020

In a random phone survey conducted for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in August 1999, Opinion Research Corporation asked 1,008 adults to rank the following transportation problems in the order of importance to the United States in the year 2020.

  • Traffic congestion
  • Deaths and serious injuries in vehicle accidents
  • Availability and/or price of gasoline
  • Local air pollution from vehicles
  • Global warming or global climate change caused by vehicles
Graph showing responses to a survey concerning the most important transportation problem in 2020

Supporting Information

  Percentage of Respondents Ranking As:  
Problem Most Important
Problem		 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Weighted Score
(max of 5)
Congestion 29% 18% 17% 15% 13% 3.11
Local Air Pollution 19% 28% 17% 18% 8% 3.02
Global Warming 17% 15% 14% 15% 27% 2.44
Deaths and Injuries 16% 14% 23% 17% 21% 2.60
Gasoline Price/Availability 15% 17% 19% 22% 18% 2.62
None 4% 7% 10% 13% 13% 1.17
Total 100% 99% 100% 100% 100%  

Source: Opinion Research Corporation for NREL, August 5, 1999. Problems were read to the respondents in random order. Results have been adjusted to represent U.S. population. Weighted score is constructed from the percent of respondents ranking the problem as most important, 2nd , etc., with the most important problem receiving a score of 5 and the least important a score of 1.

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